The Rising Generation, the Kings
by CaptainFlye
Summary: It's about twelve years after the defeat of Akatsuki. There is a new Hokage, and a new generation of Shinobi, all with their own stories and surprises.
1. Intro

5-9-10

Looking around i felt the need to add a little on the intro. First, when i started this story i was used to writing short chapters, and the writing wasn't as good b/c i wasn't used to writing. I'm getting better, and the chapters are longer. I say this b/c i've noticed that most people only read the first two chapters or s before stopping. Please, keep reading! I promise, it gets better! And with your help i can continue to improve. In my most recent chapters i've really been getting better. I'm no longer focusing just on my OC's. From chapter 7 on there will be alot of story on normal Naruto characters. At this point it will mostly be team 7, and also some for Hinata. So again, please read through till at least chapter seven, (being posted later tonight) and then even if you don't like it, review and tell me why so i can better learn what i can do to improve my writing, okay? Thanks.

8-9-10

Also, since 'carnax of oblivion' was too scared to login when they reviewed, i'm going to start off with this note as they're comment was a valid point:yes, i put the story down as NaruHina; no, they are not in actuality the main characters of the story since my two main characters are OCs, but they WILL be two of most important people for one of the main characters as we get further on in the story, it's just going to take a little bit to get there, so please be patient with me.

Now, for the original intro:

**This is a fanfic that a co-worker and I created. At least, we started to. It came time for me to go to college and we haven't really corresponded much on this project. My co-worker has seen pretty much everything that I've written up to this point, and if i don't hear back from him soon, then I'l be keeping the story going on my own. We were having our own discussion on Naruto and came up with this idea. I'll let you know what the discussion was when I get to the part of the story that reveals this little bit of fun.**

**Anyways, I hope that you enjoy it. There will be a little bit of normal parings going on, but that's mostly because this was a possible way that we saw for how things would turn out, and the pairings used were the ones we liked. You'll figure it out as things go.**

**Disclaimer: as much as I wish I did, i do _not_ own Naruto. Almost all characters and such are owned my Masashi Kishimito.**

**Now, R&R please.**

Around the time that Madara was defeated, two children were born, both of them from well known, and liked, leaf shinobi. One of them was a girl, the daughter of Sarutobi Asuma. Nara Shikamaru was there for the birth, of course, and he spent much of his spare time at Kurenai's helping to raise the child. Kurenai, of course, already knew that Shikamaru would do this as he had already been doing things for her every day he was home in the village. Because of this, she named her daughter Shika, after her godfather.

The other was the son of Hatake Kakashi. This came as a surprise to everyone. No one had even known that he'd had a wife. They had chosen to keep it secret for a time due to how much people outside Konoha wanted Kakashi dead and because his wife could be used to try and get at him. With the general unity that now connected the Shinobi villages, however, they felt they could afford to be in the open, and the birth of Kakashi's son was much celebrated by his close friends. His wife insisted that they name their child after Kakashi, but he wanted it to not be exactly his name, so they settled for just dropping the 'K', and so Hatake Akashi was named.

Both children would one day grown into strong, confident shinobi of the leaf village, but they had to overcome many challenges in their lives before that could happen, and those challenges would be mostly those of their own creation…

**The next chapter will start with our characters being about 12, like Naruto was at the beginning of his story, and will also start near of the end of the academy.**

**Let it be noted- the personality and abilities of Akashi were mostly created by my co-worker, and Shika was mostly done by me. We started creating this story before the manga got to the death of Danzo, so, obviously, while much of the story will attempt to remain true to the storyline, I cannot help that some of the pieces of the plot were concieved to a nigh unto unchangable point by the time some parts of the manga came out [and the same will hold true for the future].**

**Also, I both read the manga and watch the Anime. I don't know if this will happen yet, but while this will obviously most heavily rely on the manga, do not be surprised to see something from one of the 'fillers'/added story arcs. There are some characters that I really like from some of those, so if i decide to include them, i will.**

**Well, now that i've finished setting the story up and explained myself, to some degree, please review this story, and feel free to suggest your own ideas for how things should go. You don't really know the characters yet. But you will soon enough. But seriously, please send me your ideas. I promise that I'll write in who gave me the idea!**

**final note that i felt i needed to add:If this story ever become M rated, it will be b/c of violence. Nothing else.**


	2. The Academy

**Alright, here's the first chapter to the story, introducing my friends original character, Hatake Akashi! A one day great ninja, but for now he has his own problems... rand and review! and don't forget to enjoy!**

Akashi was leaning over his paper, taking notes as the teacher spoke. Of course, this teacher wasn't really going over anything about being a shinobi that Akashi didn't already know. It was just another lecture on chakra, but Akashi needed to make sure that he upheld the family name. I mean, after all, his father was Kakashi, the copy ninja! If he didn't get everything exactly right, what would people say about his dad?

Akashi sighed. He hated his life. Growing up as the son of a famous shinobi, especially one was became temporary Hokage back during the Akatsuki incident, out you in a shadow. He was always hear things like, "can't wait to see the great things you'll so, Akashi-san," "you'll be just like your dad Akashi," "I wonder if you'll become a jonin as fast as your father Akashi" and others over and over every day it seemed. And whenever he answered a question in class it was, "Just what I'd expect from the son of Hatake Kakashi!"

He ground his pencil into the paper a little harder than was really needed before relaxing. It wasn't that he hated his dad, he just hated being compared to him. His dad really _was_ amazing, and Akashi knew it. He loved his dad for it, but what made him so great to Akashi was that, despite how busy he was, he was always there when Akashi needed it. It was not Kakashi's power that impressed his son, but his compassion for his family.

Finally the teacher stopped speaking. Akashi breathed out in relief and looked around the room. There were quite a few shinobi hopefuls in this group. There was some kid from the Inuzuka, the was young Hyugua, and couple from the Nara clan, twins actually, there was that Shika girl who spent so much time with Shikamaru sensei she almost might as well be a Nara (though she never let anyone forget that she was a Sarutobi), and most of the rest weren't from any particular clan. Their last teacher walked out and they broke for lunch. Akashi went over to sit with Nara Shibi. He was a cool kid, but not a very good student.

"Hey Shibi, how'd you like the lesson?" Shibi started to bang his head on his desk. His sister gave him a look of disgust and headed over to sit with the Inuzuka kid and their friends. Akashi smirked as he pulled out his lunch and waited for Shibi to stop. "Didn't like it, huh?"

"Dude, Akashi, was he even speaking English? I mean, come on! What the heck is he talking about, chanelling chakra and all that?!" Akashi sighed. Shibi's biggest problem for being a shinobi was that he just didn't seem able to grasp any of the concepts of Chakra and using ninjutsu. His taijutsu was fine, but nothing special, and he never managed to channel his chakra. It wasn't that he didn't _have_ any. Akashi had been waiting for him outside once when he heard the sensei that had just finished tell Shibi that he had a lot of chakra, he just needed to learn how to use it. For now Akashi shrugged.

"You're just not looking at it the right way, that's all." Shibi rolled his eyes.

"Right, sure, the great Hatake Akashi has spoken, and all shall be made clear." Akashi laughed. He always did. Shibi liked to poke fun at people, but he never got that Akashi was uncomfortable with those kinds of jokes. It just made him feel the weight of his father's shadow. "Can I see your notes? I mean, when you write stuff it actually starts to make _some_ sense at least!" Akashi handed him the notes that he had been taking. "Thanks man!"

Shibi's eyes started flying over the notes. Akashi could tell that he was reading too quickly again. That was his other problem. He was never patient enough to get it all. He'd get the basic idea, but miss the finer details that would have allowed him to actually use things like chakra. Akashi sighed. He wasn't much better, though. While he understood chakra, his control wasn't the best. He was always under or over guessing how much chakra to put into a clone or transformation jutsu, so his jutsu's were never very good. He winced when he thought about how Iruka had looked at him in disappointment when he messed up the transformation jutsu at the midterm tests that year. Akashi sighed and looked down as his friend kept going over his notes.

_This sucks. Everyone looks at me like that, but I'll **never** be as good as dad…._

**So, can you see what his issue is that he has to overcome?**

**The next chapter will introduce Shika's character. Then you'll have the two main issues, though her's is going to come out a little better in the future. **

**So, i'm thinking of doing this one chapter Akashi, one chapter Shika. They'll be on the same genin team [just a little foreknowledge] but then something will happen where they get their own personal teachers, so I think that it'll work out. What do you think?**

**And again, I really look forward to reviews and ideas for what i can do for them. I only have the major points plotted out, and i need things to help me get there. All advice/ideas are appreciated, and the contributers will be recognized as i use their ideas.**

**Thank-you! :)**


	3. Lunch

**Alright, time to introduce you to Sarutobi Shika, the daughter of Kurenia and Asuma. We're still at lunch in this chapter, but you'll get to see an old Sensi in the next chapter. Academy Graduation is coming up! Then we'll see how our kids do. But like i said, this chapter is for Shika.**

Shika was sitting, waiting for lunch to end. Her mother had cooked her a real lunch that day, but she didn't really notice how it tasted. It didn't really matter how it tasted anyways. Her clothes fairly reflected her mood. She was wearing a dark, loose outer robe that was that generally hung over her hands when she let it. She often did to finger the blades she kept just in the ends of the sleeves. They were very important to her. She kept the robe tied at about her midriff, and underneath that, she had on a black mesh shirt beneath that, like mean shinobi did. Her pants were dark, ending around the knee. Her clothes put off the auro of 'don't mess with me or I'll kill you', though she kept her face in a big enough smile to dispel that thought for most people. Right now, though, Shika was bored.

She knew all this stuff already. She had one of the highest grades in their class at the academy. It wasn't that she was overly smart; she just worked hard. Now, she may not seem like it a lot, but she did. Based on Iruka Sensie's comments, she acted a lot like some dumb knuckle head that was in the academy once, but that was only sometimes. She pulled pranks, yes, but her heart was never in it. It was face that she put on for everyone else. They needed a little laughter, and they expected her to be happy. They were always worried when they saw her frown, so she never showed how she really felt. Sai Sensei, though, well, he was something else. He had told her one time that she didn't have a real smile. When she looked at him, he just smiled and said he'd taken a long time to learn what a real smile was, but now he knew, and he could tell she didn't really smile. As she started to get angry he held up a book and said that he'd read that a sensei should show an interest in the feelings of his students. She face faulted. Once she recovered she just told him it was none of his business and to leave her alone. He looked confused as she left, rubbing his head before shrugging and walking off, nose in his book. He was an interesting sensei, always on the book learning, but rarely knowing practical application. Well, at least when it came to interacting with others. He knew really well how to apply combat skills, she gave him that, but he was still weird.

Well, that was last year; they didn't have him this year since he'd been given a genin team to train. Everyone else always laughed when they saw him with his team and he said something he'd read out of a book. This was usually followed by a face fault. But since everyone else was laughing, Shika didn't need to.

Today she was brooding and eating her lunch. That was all. She wasn't quite in the mood to do any pranks today. It was too much of a drag. Too bad Inuzuka Kashike came over.

"Hey Shika! Can you sit with us today?" Shika put up a smile immediately before looking at the girl.

"Well of course! Why the heck wouldn't I?"

"Well, the Nara Shiba and Touji Kaori are sitting with us today, and they just drag things down, we weren't sure if you trying to avoid them." Shika laughed.

"Heck, they could make a festival seem gloomy, but why should that keep me away? I turn funerals into parties! YEAH GIRL! Sarutobi Shika is IN charge!" And there is was, the act she always put on. Soon she was cracking jokes as she leaned casually on the table they were next too. All a farce, and none of it real, just like Sai-sensei had said. No one needed to know how angry she was; besides, they wouldn't understand. None of _them_ had to lose their father before they were even born…

**So, what do you think about her? Girl has some issues, huh?**

**Please review, and remember, I'm trying to figure out a lot of the little pieces of this story still, and some major points. Please send me your ideas, or put them into a review. Again, I PROMISE that I'll recognize you for the idea if/when I use it.**

**Anyways, have a great week!**


	4. The Hokage

**dislcaimer-i don't oown Naruto, just like I didn't in the last three chapters... though that would be kinda nice...**

**So, this is definetaly the longest chapter that I've ever written. I usually do shorter chapters, as you can see if you read my other stories, but from those and this one, I've gotten a lot of requests that I write longer chapters. This is my first****attempt like that. Looks to be more than twice as long as normal, maybe three times. Here you're gonna get to see the current Hokage for the first time. Makes an entrance, of course. A little more on Akashi and Shika's characters. **

******Read and review! Please tell me what you think and give me your ideas! After all, i'm not THAT creative, and I'd be happy to get your ideas.**

Iruka massaged his head as he headed to teach his senior class. This was the loudest group that he'd ever had (of course, it's not like he hadn't thought that before). Despite how much he usually enjoyed teaching, this group made him sometimes wonder why he didn't just retire and go on normal missions. That Shika girl was just as loud as Naruto had been, but unlike Naruto, she was well liked, so she had even more reason to make noise. He sighed. At least she never painted on the Hokage's faces, even though the current Hokage would probably laugh their head off if she did. The Hokage was screwball if there ever was one.

Iruka laughed quietly as he thought on some of his pupils over the years, and how proud he was of some. The rookie nine were still legends at the academy level. Never before had all 3 rookie teams been approved for taking the chunnin exams at their first oprrotunities, and it was unheard of that every member of a particular year become jonin! And _he_, Iruka, had been their teacher! That was something to smile about at least, he thought.

Finally he reached the door. Already he could hear Shika making all the racket possible, and everyone was laughing their heads off. Well, Akashi probably wasn't. He was a pretty quite kid, like his dad. Iruka knew the kid hated being compared to his dad, but Iruka thought that he was well on his way to becoming the same caliber as his dad, if he could just _stop_ trying to match him. Iruka could tell that it was holding him back, and he'd tried to talk to him, but nothing worked. Sighing, he opened the door, preparing to accept him doom.

Shika was outwardly sulking in her seat. She'd been told she had detention for keeping the class distracted when Iruka Sensei was trying to start class. Granted, he _was_ the best teacher, but she'd been on a roll. It was one of those rare times that she was actually _almost_ enjoying herself. She thought that it was maybe because of the stress of exams coming up in the next week.

Akashi, meanwhile, had been rolling his eyes, waiting for that Sarutobi girl to be quite so that they could learn. If she kept up all that racket, he would never be able to catch up to his dad. He smiled as he thought about exams and how it would mean that he got away from her… that is, if he didn't fail. Despite his good grades, he was worried that he just might not make it. After all, he had to work his butt off to do as good as he did. He couldn't afford to slack off even a day, so Shika needed to be a little more quite.

Meanwhile, Iruka was talking about how to properly do a transformation jutsu, and called Touji Kaori to demonstrate. This ended up being a class exercise., Iruka calling them down one at a time to demonstrate. Most of the students did really well. Nara Shiba did good, transforming into Shika and making a silly pose. This was pretty rare for her since she usually was pretty serious. Nara Shibi, on the other hand, totally screwed up. He tried to transform into Iruka Sensei, but ended up with a larger than life head, about five times bigger than it should have been, and little arms. Iruka shook his head.

_Big head and little arms? Oh Shibi, and I'm not sure this was well thought out…_ He sighed. Shika wasn't the only one that that reminded him or Naruto in some ways. Shibi had a lot of chakra, but didn't have any control over it. The class laughed as Shibi fell over and had to dismiss the jutsu in order to get back up. He glared at them in anger and embarrassment before going over to sit next to Akashi again.

Akashi was a pretty good student, but as usual, messed up just a little because he was concentrating too hard. Instead of a male Iruka, he ended up making a female Iruka.

"SHUT UP YOU DUMB KIDS!!" Iruka yelled as they all laughed and made jokes about how their Sensei made a pretty good looking girl. "OR I'LL MAKE YOU ALL DO THIS ONE AGAIN _AND _THE CLONE JUTSU!!!" That shut them up pretty quick. Finally it was Shika's turn, and she turned into the Hokage.

"Well, kids, it's time to go home!" She yelled before getting batted on the head by Iruka.

"Knock it off! No one's going home yet!" Sitting the floor rubbing their head, the transformation didn't disperse.

"Iruka Sensei, that hurt! What's you do and do that for!?"

"You know very well Sarutobi Shika! Now stop goofing off and get back in your seat!" Someone cleared their voice, and Iruka looked at the back of the room to see Shika sitting at her desk, slightly confused, but amused.

"What-huh-how," Iruka sputted looking back and forth between the girl and the… transformed Hokage?

"I mean seriously, I decided to pay a visit from my office and talk with you guys, and you hit me? I mean, come on!" Iruka's jaw dropped.

"NARUTO!!!" The hokage stood up.

"Well, yeah, who did you expect," he said, grinning fit to burst. The whole class burst out laughing. It was always a blast when the Hokage came. He was always playing jokes.

"Course," he said, rubbing his chin, "I guess that performing a substitution jutsu when you where trying to teach them transformation jutsu probably wasn't the best idea…" He grinned again as Iruka began to apologize… profusely!

"Naruto sama, I'm SO sorry! I thought you were Sarutobi Shika playing a prank again! I swear I'll pay for your next meal at," but Naruto stopped him before he could finish.

"Iruka Sensei, you don'y _want _to finish that sentence. When I get a free meal at Ichiraku's, I pig out, and my appatite is even bigger now than it was when I was a kid! You'll be half way to broke. Besides, I deserved it, after that prank." He laughed. "Look on the bright side: I didn't paint on the Hokage's faces today!" Iruka almost groaned as he saw a glimmer appear in Shika's eyes.

"So, what _are _you doing here today, Hokage Sama?" Naruto shrugged.

"Seriously, Iruka Sensei, just call me Naruto, like old times." Iruka just grinned weakly, still embarresed about hitting the Hokage. "Anyways, I was just wanting to talk to the soon to be graduates for a moment. Is that okay?"

"Of course… Naruto." Patting Iruka's shoulder, Naruto turned to the class.

"Well kids, it's just around the corner. You're about to graduate the academy and become full-fledged shinobi of Konoha! You need to remember why it is that _you_ chose to become a shinobi, and _that_ is what will get you through _all _of the exams, even the one's you don't expect," he said, a twinkle in his eye. "Never forget those who are precious to you, because that is where strength comes from, and it's how I became strong enough, and smart enough eventually," and here Iruka sniggered quietly, "to become Hokage now. Remember the will of fire! Now, do any of you have any questions." Akashi hesitated before raising his hand. "Yes, Akashi-san?" A couple of the other students widened their eyes as they realized that Akashi actually _knew_ the Hokage.

"Well, Hokage-sama, I was just wondering, what did you mean by exams that we didn't expect?"

"Well, I'll just leave that up to your sensei's when the time comes; that's _their_ jobs," he said, eyes still twinkling with mischievousness. "Don't let yourself worry about it. Anything else," he asked, raising his head. This time it was Nara Shibi.

"Hokage-sama! What if the teachers here just don't make any sense?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Well…Shibi, right?... what do you mean?"

"Well, Hokage-sama, everything they teach, _all_ of them, it just doesn't make sense to me! I mean, I try and everything, but how do you actually _do _it?" Naruto turned to Iruka.

"Iruka sensei, do you still teacher the same way?"

"Yes, Hokage, I do, just like when you were in the academy." Naruto turned back to Shibi and shrugged.

"Well, in that case, I would say that you need to study harder. Slow down, pay attention, and it should come to you. Goodness knows most of the lectures I got went in one ear and out the other, but that was my fault. Everyone else got what Iruka taught really well. My guess is that you aren't too much different than I was in the academy, so just slow down! Don't be afraid to ask for extra help, either." Shibi's jaw dropped.

But- but Hokage-sama! I don't have enough time! I need to-"

"Go make sure you cleaned the bathroom after that mess I'm sure you made this morning," Shika interrupted, making several people laugh, and even Shibi's sister, Shiba, cracked a smile. Shibi just huffed and got quite. There were a few more questions, and just as Naruto was about to leave, Shika raised her hand.

"Yes Sarutobi Shika?"

"So, did you really paint on the Hokage's faces?" Naruto laughed heartily while Iruka cringed.

"Yes, yes I did. It was the week of exams that I did that! Haahaa! Oh, that was a good one! I slipped away from the chunnin chasing me, except for Iruka here! Oh, he never let me slip up, Iruka Sensei! Haahaa! Oh, I was such a knuckle head then!" A few more laughs from everyone as their Hokage recalled a couple more pranks he had done, including to Iruka, much to his embarrassment, and then waved them farwell and left.

"Well," Iruka said, "I hope you all enjoyed that visit from our Hokage, now-"

"Hey Iruka sensei! Did the hokage really-"

"SHUT UP YOU DUMB KIDS!!!"

**So, what did you think? Did you like it, hate it, not care, have an idea, whatever! Just post a review and let me know. This includes noting my grammar/spelling mistakes. Thanks! **

**Oh, also, if you happen to have questions about the story, feel free to ask those as well. **

**:)**


	5. The Weekend

**dislcaimer-i don't oown Naruto, just like I didn't in the last four chapters... though that would be kinda nice...**

**So, a little break before we actually hit the exams to see some of what Akashi and Shika do in their spare time, and their relationships with their parents, or in Shika's case, her psuedo parent Shikamaru, too. Please review!**

"She did _what??_"

"Ah man… what a drag…"

"This is not a small matter! Kurenai, your daughter painted on the Hokage faces!!"

"Oh, don't worry," said Yuuhi Kurenai, "She'll be getting it from _me_ when she gets home... and don't you think you're skipping out on _this_ one Shikamaru!" Shikamaru stopped, crouched over, arms out, and one knee raised as he was caught trying to sneak away. "She looks up to _you_ more than me anyways, so _you_ had _better_ be there to help me lecture her!" Shikamaru stood up and leaned back, hands in his pockets.

"What a drag. Now she won't want to really try when we play shogi for the next few days."

"Well too bad; life's not all about shogi Nara Shikamaru, as you well know." He looked up as the clouds in the sky.

"Yeah, but it's still a drag..."

Meanwhile, Shika was running and laughing her head off as she evaded the various chunnin running after her.

"You'll never catch _me_ you losers," she yelled at them, dodging around a fence. They all turned and ran down the short street, never noticing that she had camouflaged herself to match the fence. Folding the cloth, she shook her head, smile now gone as she was alone.

"Idiots. They'll never be good shinobi's if they can't see through such a simple deception." She turned to run home and ran straight into Shikamaru. She looked up at his bored face and saw that she was in big trouble. "Uhhh… hi, Shikamaru sensei…" He kept looking down at her, making her cringe and look away. Then she looked up in surprise as she heard a familiar sounding laugh and clapping to accompany it.

"Haahaa! Well done Shika, well done! I couldn't have done better myself! But did you honestly have to give me a runny nose when you painted on _my_ face?" The hokage asked, wearing a smile wider than his face it seemed. She looked at him in shock. She'd expected him to be the maddest… maybe not as mad as her mom, but she'd just done a number on his face on the mountain.

"Ho-hokage sama, why aren't you mad?" He waved his hand at her, as if to say it didn't matter.

"Why should I be? I'd be a hypocrite that way! I mean, you heard that I'd done it at your age when I was in your class the other day. I half expected that you'd try to copy me, and I kinda wanted to see if you could get away with it as well as I did, or better even!" He laughed. "It actually looks to me as though you're gonna get in more trouble than I did, but on the bright side, you don't have to clean it off like I did."

"Huh," she asked, her facedoing nothing to hide her confusion. Naruto grinned even larger, if that was possible.

"Just because I did it when I was a kid, I have the hokage faces wiped down with a special solution that makes cleaning from things like, say, _paint_, as easy as hitting the spots with a water jutsu, and it falls right off."

"Sounds like you actually got a smart idea, huh Naruto," said Shikamaru, still not shifting his face from Shika, who immediately looked away again after seeing his face.

"Heehee; yeah, I guess so. Just goes to show that even a knuckle head gets a good idea now and then." Putting his hand down from behind his head he looked at Shika and Shikamaru. "Now, I'll get you out of trouble with the other shinobi, but I can't promise anything about Kurenai sensei. She's really mad right now is my guess. Am I right, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "It's such a drag, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do." Finally he looked up and started walking. "Shika, let's go play a game of shogi and talk for a little while." She silently followed, stopping only for a moment when the hokage grabbed her arm.

"Now Shika, I'm not going to lie to your mom to get you out of trouble, but I'll do what I can. For now, listen to Shikamaru; he's the smartest guy either of us will ever know." She nodded, not currently able to work up her usual 'levity', and continued after Shikamaru, who was waiting at the corner. Naruto watched them walk away, smiling slightly.

"Heh; same spot I hid, even. That girl would do good if she'd just lighten up a little for real." He shook his head. "Shikamaru was right; she _is_ hiding something. Hope he's able to help her. Now do deal with Kurenai sensei..."

.

.

Akashi was carrying a stack of huge stack of books as he headed home from the library. He needed to get in some extra study, especially after what Naruto-sama had said about the possibility of there being more on the tests than they expected. His dad had just shrugged and smiled [when you grow up with someone who always wears a mask, you can tell pretty easy when someone is smiling underneath it] when he asked about it and told him not to worry about it. Well, Akashi couldn't afford not to worry, so he'd canceled his day with Shibi so he could study. Shibi moaned and all, especially when Akashi suggest he study some, too, but whether Shibi studied or played was up to him; Akashi was going to study.

Suddenly he heard a familiar maniacal laugh. "Just try and catch me you morons!" He turned and everything seemed to go into slow motion. Shika was running almost right at him. She was looking behind her, not paying attention to where she was going, and was going to run into him! He closed his eyes, and felt himself spin, then he could hear a dozen or so people run by him. Clutching his books, he opened first one eye, than the other, and looked around to see that no one had run into him and that he actually still had all his books. He breathed a sigh of relief, appreciating his luck.

"I wonder what she did to tick so many shinobi off in the first place," he grumbled as he relaxed and started walking toward home again. Then he paused. "No way… even _she_ wouldn't…" He turned slowly towards the hokage mountain and slapped himself as he saw the paintings on the hokage faces. "Idiot! Did she really- AHHHH!!" He scrambled to grab his books that had started to fall all over the place when he slapped his forehead with his hand…which hand had not been available to do that with since it was supporting most of the book weight. Picking up the books that fell, and grumbling some more about how it was only one more week before he would be rid of her, he kept walking home, careful not to drop the books again.

Naruto, meanwhile, had stopped in his progress to catch up to the chase. He'd been about to catch them when he'd seen Akashi smoothly turn and sidestep each and every shinobi chasing Shika as they passed by him, and with his eyes closed no less!

_Kid's got more potential than he thinks,_ he thought. _I wish he'd get over the idea that he needs to be just like his dad. _ Looking up, he realized how far behind he'd gotten. _Shoot! Now I might have to really try if I want to congratulate her before they catch her,_ he thought, speeding off after the pursuit.

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Shikamaru moved a knight to counter Shika's last move. She sat looking at the board, but not really analyzing anything. She was waiting for the lecture. She'd been caught, and now Shikamaru sensei was going to punish her. After a couple minutes, she moved a piece again, and Shikamaru sighed.

"You know, it's a drag playing shogi with someone who isn't even paying attention." She looked up a little surprised. They finally hit and maintained eye contact for a moment. "You think I'm going to lecture you, don't you?"

"Well, that's what mom told you to do you, isn't it?" He smiled.

"We both know that it won't do a thing. You don't really care too much about it. All you were really trying to do was release more of whatever it is that you have pent up inside." She looked away. "I keep saying that you should tell me what it is that's bothering you. You haven't smiled for real in years. I think me and Sai are about the only ones that can tell. Maybe your mom, but I think that she ignores it, not wanting to think that her only child is crying inside about something all the time." Shika gripped her hands tightly.

"Shut up. Just shut up, sensei," she said, angry at him for looking deeper into her, and into her private thoughts. It was enough that he knew she faked the personality that everyone else took for granted, but why couldn't he leave her be!? Shikamaru just shrugged in response to her anger. He'd known it was coming, after all.

"Fine. I can't pretend I'm okay with that, but I'm here when you decide you want to tell me. Meanwhile, just think of your mom, and try not to make things _too_ hard on her, okay?" She nodded, though somewhat grudgingly. "Alright, now let's play for real…"

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Kakashi smiled as his son came in the door carrying a stack of books, shaking his head in amusement. He kept trying to get Akashi to lighten up, but he kept thinking that just because everyone compared them that he had to match his dad. While Kakashi was sure that his son would do exactly that eventually, he didn't think that stressing himself like he did would help him on the way. Training with him after school and on the weekends, he knew his son had a lot of potential, but needed to let go of the stress.

"Yo son! How was your trip to the library." Akashi rolled his eyes.

"It took a few minutes to find everything I wanted, but then that stupid Shika girl ran by with a dozen shinobi chasing her, and I almost lost my books." Kakashi cocked his head to one side and narrowed his a eye a little in confusion.

"A dozen shinobi were chasing her? Why's that?" Akashi sighed and lightly hit his head on the table top as he sat down across from his dad.

"Oh my gosh dad, she'd so stupid. She painted on the hokage's faces!" Kakashi face faulted. He pulled himself up after a minute and managed to sputter out a reply.

"She did what?!"

"She painted on the hokage's faces, dad! I mean, how stupid can someone be!" Kakashi wasn't sure if he should laugh or sigh. He settled for shaking his head while smiling under his mask.

"The more you talk about her, the more she reminds me of Naruto. He painted the Hokage's faces right before the day of the graduation exam and he got put on my team. Good thing we just reapplied the compound to the mountain a couple days ago. The paint should come off real easy." Akashi looked at his dad in confusion. Kakashi explained himself as soon as he noticed.

"Oh, Naruto came up with the idea a few years ago when another prankster was close to graduation. He had some good ones, and just in case he turned out to be as bad as Naruto was when he was a kid, the Hokage decided it would be… wise, if we made the faces easier to clean. He remembered how hard it was to clean it himself, and he didn't think anyone else deserved to do so much work since there's two more faces now than there were then. "

"It's still stupid; I don't know why Naruto-sama wanted to do it in the first place." Kakashi put don't his book and sighed.

"You see son, Naruto wasn't well liked at your age. He was trying to make people respect him, so he did crazy things to show that he wasn't incapable, especially since he didn't even know why everyone hated him."

"But no one hates Shika! Everyone thinks she _so_ cool, but all she ever does is try and cause trouble!" Kakashi rubbed his chin.

"Well, I can't say for sure, but in that case, I'd bet that there's something that she's hiding, and so she covers for it by putting on a mask." Akashi huffed.

"Everyone always covers for her; she never really gets in trouble, and she never even works that hard." Kakashi sighed.

"Akashi, I wasn't saying that she should get away with it. I'll talk with the Hokage when I go in to assist him today. Don't worry about it. You're already overstressing about the graduation exams anyways." Akashi finally lost his scowl, and it was replaced by worry.

"But dad, if I don't pass it, what will everyone else think? I mean, they expect me to already be as good as you were at my age, and by then you were like, already a jonin! I… I can't make it…" Kakashi reached over to embrace his son.

"Hatake Akashi, I don't want you to worry about the exams. That's all they are, and screw everyone else that tries to tell you what you ought to be. You are my son, and I love you…"

"And so do I," said another voice, Hatake Choko, his mother, and her arms reached around behind Akashi so that he was hugged by both of his parents. He hugged their arms back, smiling, and relaxing for a moment.

"Thanks mom; thanks dad…"

**So, next chapter should be the exams. I've got a vague idea of what the exams are going to be like, but what do you think? I'm looking for suggestions for what the exams should be like since the only part of the gennin exam from the manga/anime is when they're doing the clone jutsu, and somehow I don't see that as being the whole exam [i mean, come on, Rock Lee could _never_ have passed if that was the only part of the exam, and we all know it!].**

**I look forward to, and even _BEG for your reviews. Thank-you very much for the time you to took to read and review. Have a good weekend._**

**_:)_**


	6. Graduation Exams

**disclaimer-i don't oown Naruto, just like I didn't in the last five chapters... though that would be kinda nice...**

**Well, it's exam time now! Two weeks after my own... except that mine we're for graduation. Sadly... It'll be fun once schools completely out, but since my school has a system with 3 main semester [fall, winter, spring,] I'm still in school! [i do the winter and spring track]. Also, sorry for not updating last week. I went home to rest, and my parents were remodeling the down stairs, which left me painting all week! But it looks real nice now, if i do say so myself, and that includes the tile work and and new window that my grandpa did. **

**Anyways, that's WAY off topic. Now, please, read! Enjoy! And don't forget to review!**

Akashi was biting his pencil nervously, going over his answers for the third time on this test. It was history test, and he had caught Shibi trying to copy off of him seven times, which meant he'd probably done it about twenty. At least he did okay on stealth, Akashi thought. Still, Akashi was sure that he was missing something. There had to be _something_ wrong with his test; there was no way that all these answers were right. After all, considering the speed that he'd gone through them on… yes, that was it; he had simply gone too fast. He needed to look things over again and reconsider it…

Shika meanwhile was lazily finishing the test. It was harder to keep a smile on her face when a test was going on, but she managed to make it look like she wasn't depressed. She looked properly bored, like a prankster should on a test. It wasn't terribly hard. She had studied enough to ensure _that_ at least, and her Ninjutsu was fine on its own, so the practical test wouldn't be so bad, either. She didn't care how the rest of them did. If they weren't ready, they weren't ready, and so they shouldn't be passed. Those who weren't ready weren't worthy, weren't skilled, and above all, those who weren't ready, would die.

Iruka felt some of that coming off of her, and wondered at the malevolence he sensed. _What's making her so angry,_ he wondered. _The happy go lucky Shika?_ Just as suddenly as the feeling had appeared, though, it disappeared once again, and there was the normal, bored over a test, Shika. Iruka wanted to scratch his head. Had he imagined it? Was it possible that that was the case? He didn't know, and had no way to tell, so he figured he'd just keep proctoring their test instead and forget about it.

Most of the rest of the students were also nervous. There were a couple who had been held back a year that were getting more and more frantic as the time for the test to end came ever closer. Shika had already begun throwing erasers around the class, until Iruka caught her and gave her a quailing look that cowed her into temporary obedience, and then she looked for other ways to goof off without him seeing.

Akashi, meanwhile, was ever more panicked that he'd under-thought the test. He'd changed half of his answers a couple times over, and had reworked every math problem that was there. It mad Shibi get dizzy just watching his pencil fly. Shibi, of was somewhere between half done and eight tenths done. It wasn't looking good for him, especially when Akashi checked the time again. He looked up a bare second before the Iruka spoke.

"Alright, pencils and pens down! _NOW!!!_" The last was directed at Shika as he lifted her pen to throw it again, having run out of erasers. Iruka looked skyward after a quick glance around the classroom. "Shibi, I said that the test is over. You have to stop now." Shibi got a panicked look on his face, and still tried to keep writing before Iruka could pick up his paper. He had to jump back as a Kunai appeared on his desk, splitting his pencil cleanly in two. "That's _enough_, Shibi. I'm sorry, but your time us up." Then he spoke to the class as a whole. "Please, bring me up your papers now, Shibi first."

Shibi looked down at his test in shame. He already knew he was going to fail. He hadn't even gotten close to finishing, and Akashi had been the usual dutiful person he was and hadn't let him cheat off of him. He'd known that he wouldn't, though, so he had no hard feelings. In fact, it was hard to feel anything but depressing emanating off of him at the moment. Still, he stood and walked to the front to give Iruka Sensei his paper.

"I'm sorry, Shibi," Iruka said, "but rules are rules." Shibi managed to smile a little.

"Yeah, I know." Then he walked out of the room to their next testing area. Iruka sighed as the rest of the class brought in their papers. He was unsurprised by most of them. Shika had finished early, and he knew that he'd do well. She may have been as much of a goof off as Naruto, but she studied hard. Akashi, though, he was surprised by. His eyes widened when he saw all of the erasing and triple down equations the kid had done. He shook his head. _That kid is pushing himself too hard, _he thought. _Well, I hope he does well on the rest of the testing…_

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Iruka no longer gave the Ninjutsu tests. He was keeping to the classroom and paper work. Not that he couldn't, but Naruto liked him to have a little more time to train and do the occasional mission. It was usually something diplomatic. No, now a days he had Sai doing Ninjutsu… expect that he was training a genin team. So, he looked around a while for someone to fill in and went with a suggestion of a medic nin that Sakura worked with and visited the academy once in a while, and then Anko as well, since she didn't have anything better to do. The two sat there, waiting for the kids to start coming in, once calm and collected, the other frustrated beyond belief.

"I'll have you know that I knew that kid when he was still a genin! I was there for his first go at the chuunin exams! He's doing this to get revenge on me, you know that! I just-"

"Don't worry, Anko-san, I'm sure that the Hokage meant nothing by it. I'm simply pleased that he trusts us to proctor this test for him."

"Hmmf. He's only having us do it because Sai isn't around," she said. "We both know he prefers him."

"Well, actually, I don't. I mostly stay in the hospital, but I do remember seeing Sai-san here before. Was he teaching? Ah yes, it _was_ ninjutsu he was talking about then! I remember now!" She smiled faintly. "It was so much fun to watch them try to learn a transformation. One poor child even made his feet and head five times their natural size." She giggled softly. Anko just slapped her face into her hand with her elbows resting on the table. Sure, he was a mistress of torture and interrogation, but did the Hokage really have to pair her with someone so nauseatingly… she couldn't think of a word for how cheery her 'partner' was, and was spared further conversation when the first kid walked into the room.

"Alright! We've got our first brat of the day!"

"Please Anko-san, you'll scare the child." She glared.

"Shinobi have to deal with being more scared than I'm likely to do, so when you can," but a clearing of the throat caught her and made her stop.

"Looks like it's a good think I stopped in," Naruto said. Anko quickly sat back down in her seat, smiling politely with her hands folded in the table as if she hadn't just been looming over her partner with a death glare. (Said partner was practically oblivious to the danger that her life had just been in). "Now, please, just do the tests, and get me the results promptly." He turned back out the door. "Good luck, Shibi," he called over his shoulder. "And remember what I said in class the other day: slow down!"

Shibi looked at the Hokage as he left, surprised by his recollection, then turned back to his proctors with determination again on his face, and took a deep breath. Maybe it _was_ time to slow down…

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Shika just stood there, bored, as she went through the rest of the exams. Oh she kept on a smile and everything, even cracked a few jokes. She sailed through the ninjutsu exam and did about average on the taijutsu, but then, she hadn't used her real close combat weapons. Only her mom and Shikamaru new about those, but her taijutsu was adequate enough to pass, and as long as she passed, she didn't care.

"Alight, Sarutobi Shika, you can go home until the rest of the tests are done. Come back tomorrow with your… mom to get your final results." She grinned.

"Sweet! That means I've got the rest of the day off! Haahahaa! See ya later suckers," she yelled as she ran from the building. She didn't go home, though. She went to her favorite spot in the woods. There were gashes all over the trees in that area, and it was obvious that _someone_ trained hard in that area. She smiled her own smile, filled with eager anticipation, slipping out her weapons. The closed her eyes and began to think of the trees not as plants, but opponents that she would face as a real Shinobi. _It's time to get rough_, she though, and if trees could scream, they would have been sounding like banshees…

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Akashi was a little nervous as he went into the Ninjutsu test. He was average at ninjutsu, messing up about as often as he got it perfect, so he was reasonably worried.

"Alright, brat,"

"Ehum…" Anko screwed up her eyes.

"Alright, _kid_, show us what you've got. Transformation first, please." Akashi nodded. He took a deep breath and gathered his chakra. He creased his brow in concentration, trying to gauge the chakra he would need.

"Transformation jutsu!" The smoke cleared and their stood Hatake Kakashi. Well, Akashi transformed to _look_ like Kakashi, anyways. The nurse nodded, smiling, and gave an encouraging clap, while Anko frowned, rubbing her chin.

"Lift up the forehead protector." Akashi panicked, not being able to remember if he'd gotten his dad's eye. He slowly lifted it up, and Anko saw… a sharingan.

"Good enough," she grunted, "but you may want to remember that Hatake Kakashi never show's his face to anyone. At least, not in public." Akashi smacked himself in the forehead. Of course; he kept forgetting that his dad wore his mask up most of the time; even at home he had it up a lot! "Just remember that other people may know such things about those you try to transform into in the future. Now, do a bushin!"

Akashi undid the transformation, but in his embarrassment, he only managed to make one good clone. The other was kind of… transparent. Oddly enough, Anko looked interesting.

"Kid, if you'd done that on purpose, I might have given you full marks…"

"Huh?"

"Well, that second clone looks like a ghost! Do you have any idea how much easier that would make some missions, if you could trick your opponent into thinking that they were seeing a ghost!?"

"Errr…."

"Well, anyways, we'll just need one more jutsu, and then you're off to the taijutsu test.

Taijutsu… not his favorite, but still, maybe he could make up for it… and maybe he could try to do the ghost thing on purpose next time… with these thoughts in mind, he was in a much more relaxed mood for the rest of the exam, and went home happy. Still very much nervous, but happy.

Iruka, meanwhile, was looking at Akashi's test, shaking his head. The kid second guessed himself too much. His test was perfect the first time, from what Iruka could tell. He would have made a better score even than Shika! "Darn kids… they need to learn faster than this if their gonna make it, but still…" he sighed as he continued grading the papers and headed off to give them to the hokage, just as the other proctors were bringing in their results.

"Interesting," was all Naruto would say, though, as he looked over the results, the proctors waiting to hear who he would pass (even though they had failed a couple on their own, as was their right). Then he smiled. "Well, I think we have this year's graduates!"

**Poll idea- should Shibi pass? I haven't decided yet. I _was_ gonna make him fail, but then i realized all the fun stuff i could do with him, even if he isn't a main character. I seem to be putting a lot of effort into him anyways, though, huh? I'll have the poll up right after i post this, so please, VOTE!!!!!!!!!**

**And review, too, please.**

**As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any ideas as to what else i could do in this story, please send them in! I'd be more than happy ro incorporate any ideas that don't conflict with my own plans for this story.**

**Have a great week!**

**:)**


	7. Ceremony

**First off, thank-you for reading this far into the story. If you've made it this far you must at least be curious, though hopefully the reason u made it this far is b/c u like the story.**

**Anyway, here our characters hit graduation, and we get to see the hokage's wife (finally). Then afterwards we see Sakura for a little bit. This is important for this story because, as you keep going, you will see that the main pairings for the normal Naruto characters are NaruHina and SasuSaku. I introduce a couple OCxOC relationships here as well, though. Hopefully you like them.**

**So, read and review, and enjoy the story!**

**disclaimer- masashi kishimoto owns naruto; not me**

Akashi groaned.

"Five more minutes…" he mumbled.

"Hatake Akashi! Today is the announcement of graduation! You are NOT staying in that bed now!" Akashi shot up at that.

"What! Huh! Graduation!" The last was said with rather wide eyes as he began to panic. "When! How late am I! Did I fail?" Choko rolled her eyes.

"No no Akashi, nothing's happened yet, except you being slower to get out of bed than normal. Graduation isn't for another couple of hours, but I going to make _sure_ that you look your best!" Akashi relaxed… a little bit.

"Okay, okay, I'm good. Yeah, I'm good." His breathing finally began to slow. He gave his mother a weird grin. "So, umm… what's for breakfast?"

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Kurenai was looking at her daughter sleep. She liked to watch Shika sleeping. It was the only time that she might ever catch her with a real grin on her face. As a master of illusion, Kurenai wasn't held to only genjutsu. She knew when people were putting up illusions in normal life, and her daughter was one of the worst. She never really smiled. It hurt to see her like that, but she hoped that if she stayed strong that maybe, one day, Shika would end up being able to come out of it, and smile again.

Shika was actually smiling this time, but it wasn't a good smile. It was a menacing one, and Kurenai couldn't help but feel that _this_ was what kept Shika from smiling, whatever it was that made her smile like this now… She sighed. She wouldn't be rewarded with a good smile this morning. It was time to wake her daughter up, so she walked over and gently nudged her.

"Shika? Shika dear, it's time to get up; they're announcing the graduations today you now." The smile disappeared and was replaced with a loud, wide yawn as Shika began to stretch and rub her eyes. She rested her arms on her chest and opened her eyes.

"Hey mom," she said, fake grin plastered on her face, but Kurenai grinned back.

"Well, I'm making bacon and eggs downstairs so hurry it up so that we can get to your graduation ceremony," she said. Shika put on a pouting look.

"Ah mom! Why bother? I'm such a goof ball I probably got failed on merit!" She laughed. Kurenai rolled her eyes.

"Come on girl, you're not fooling anyone. I'm sure you got great scores. It's not like I've never caught you studying late at night." Shika let herself blush a little bit.

"Mom! You're not supposed to know that!" Kurenai laughed.

"I'm your mother; of course I know everything about you!" Inwardly, Shika thought, _no mom, you only wish you did. I only do this for you, you know…_ But she smiled and scratched the back of her head.

"Heehee; I guess I have no secrets from you." Kurenai kissed her daughter on the forehead.

"None; now hurry up so we can eat and leave for the academy."

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Akashi was sitting next to Shibi, talking about how their tests went… or at least Akashi was. Shibi was keeping quiet on it. He didn't feel up to sharing, but he did look a rather green color, so Akashi kept trying to cheer him up.

"Come on, I'm sure you did fine! I mean, you got most of the way through the first test, and I've heard they grade the first person on the other tests better because they aren't in a bad mood yet."

"Akashi, please, stop trying to cheer me up. Just let me be sick. Besides, I had all of yesterday to have my family telling me the same thing." Akashi sighed.

"Okay, but can't you talk at-" he paused as Shibi's eyes glazed over. "Hello? Shibi? Helloooo!" He waved his hand in front of his head and Shibi jumped in surprise.

"Sorry, what were we talking about?" Akashi looked over to where Shibi had been staring. All he saw was a couple people, including Kurenai sensei and Shika coming into the large room. He guessed that Shibi had just gotten overly worked up over what even Akashi thought would probably be a failure in the exams.

"Well, on the bright side, neither of us will really have to deal with that Shika girl anymore."

"Whu-huh? Who said anything about Shika?" Akashi looked at his friend oddly.

"Umm… I only saw that she came in and was thinking that at least we wouldn't have to deal with her anymore." He thought for a moment. "Are you feeling okay? Maybe you really are sick." Shibi made a show of shrugging it off.

"No, no, I'll be fine." He looked his friend in the eyes. "What's wrong with Shika though? I always thought she was kinda funny."

"What's wrong with her? She's annoying as heck! She's always interrupting class with irrelevant comments and making a ruckus! She's never serious about anything!" Shibi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Whatever. I think you're being too critical right now. I mean-" But what he meant would have to wait as there was a clearing of the throat up at the front of the room. Several boys gasped at the vision of beauty that was before them. She was wearing a formal kimono, mostly white but with some purple lining it, and a collection of flowers starting narrowly about waist height, then flowing out and down from there till both sides connected at the bottom of the dress which actually touched the ground behind her. She had lavender hair, a great dazzling smile as she stood there, and her eyes were the soft white of the Hyuuga clan… and she was spoken for. Too bad for the few young boys who couldn't recognize the Hokage's wife. She cleared her throat again.

"Welcome all, to the graduation ceremony for this year's academy students! I, Namikaze Hinata, am please to be conducting this ceremony." She sighed. "Unfortunately, my husband," and this was where several teenaged groans were heard, "the hokage," now punctuated by gasps of surprise, "may be a little late. He had a late night with the paper work and our son Jiraiya was being fussy this morning." She grinned wickedly. "Unfortunately, it was my husband's turn to deal with him. When I left home I think he was trying to get some cereal out of his hair." There were several laughs, especially from the people who were quite close to the Namikaze family. Several of them planned to make him recount the story in detail later.

"Anyways, we'd like to recognize the teaching staff, of course, for their excellent job and hard work… and their many headaches." Another laugh, but the teachers just rubbed their heads as they remembered the rather significant headaches from that year… mostly courtesy of a certain Sarutobi…

"Not the least of which is Iruka sensei, one of my own teachers in my academy days, and his recent promotion to principle of the school, for not only taking on these added responsibilities, but still managing to teach at the same time." She began the clapping in appreciation of the teachers.

"Of course, where would we be without the help of our special tutors?" The ceremony continued like that for a little while, as all ceremonies do, but Hinata managed to keep everyone interested with little jokes here and there. No one would have thought that this confident, beautiful woman used to be one of the shyest girls in the village, not to mention that she used to faint whenever she got to close to the man that was her now husband. Finally, however, it came time to announce the graduates.

"So, without further a due, it will now be my pleasure, in absence of my husband, to announce to you-" there was a loud banging outside the doors as if someone had tripped on some chairs. Hinata smiled. "Well, actually it seems I shall not have the pleasure of announcing our graduates, but rather I shall have the pleasure of welcoming in my husband, Namikaze Naruto, the sixth Hokage!" As she said his name a slightly disheveled Naruto, wearing robes much like his father had, came in, straitening his hat with one hand and holding a young sleeping child about six years old in his other. The child had hair so yellow it was practically white, and he was slumped in the man's arms, his own hanging down, right cheek leaning on his shoulder. How he were still asleep was a wonder. Naruto of course just gave a huge grin as he walked in.

"Sorry for my tardiness everyone! I'm afraid little Jiraiya was in a foul mood this morning!" A few people chuckled, recalling the scene Hinata had briefly described a few moments ago as their Hokage walked up to the stage. Hinata stayed standing to welcome him with open arms and a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello dear; what happened to taking him to Tsunade-sama's?" Naruto gave an embarrassed shrug.

"She was asleep and I didn't have the heart to wake her up. You know how she is these days." Hinata nodded a little sadly, thinking on the weakened condition of their fifth Hokage. At least she was still around to grace them with her wisdom… and occasionally babysit for the younger couple.

Most people thought that the little scene was very cute, and in some cases romantic. The last was mostly the thoughts of the teenage girls in the room. Two people, however, thought on it a little differently.

Sarutobi Shika, or example. _Why are they so happy? Sooner or later something will happen. What's the point?_ Hatake Akashi, also, but more along the lines of, _Man, I have problems because of my dad; that little guy's gonna have it even worse than me! I mean, come on! His dad _and _his granddad were hokage!_

Both shook their heads, thought Shika less so (have to keep up appearances, you know?) and waited for the scene to end.

Nara Shibi was another example. For him, like a few others, his attention was directed towards someone else while they zoned out the rest of the ceremony. His attention, for example, was on a certain dark haired, red eyed young girl sitting on the other side of the room. Not that she ever noticed him. He sighed. He would probably never be good enough for her…

"Alright," Naruto said loudly, startling some out of their thoughts while Hinata shushed him and gestured at the sleeping boy she now held in her arms. Naruto grinned sheepishly and lowered his voice as he continued. "Like my beautiful wife was saying before I blundered in, it's time to announce the graduates!" There was the start of yells and clapping, but then they felt the killer intent of Hinata and followed their Hokage's example in lowering the noise volume. Naruto was handed a scroll from Iruka, then opened it and turned around again.

"Please, as I read your name, come forward and accept your head band from your teachers. You will then be official shinobi of the leaf village!

"First one off the block," and Naruto smiled, looking over at his old sensei, "Hatake Akashi!" Shibi immediately clapped him on the back as he sat there in shock.

"Way to go! I knew you'd do it!"

"But, but, I suck! There's no way!"

"Hatake Akashi, if you don't get moving right now, I'm going to pick you up and drag you up to that table himself," Akashi heard his mother whisper menacingly. He immediately stopped questioning what he thought was merely good fortune and almost ran up to the stage, trying to keep a straight face but not able to keep his lips from twitching upwards in a grin.

"Hyuuga Hisame," he said, continuing down the list as the quiet, and already slightly stoic Hyuuga girl got up to collect her hand band. Other names were called, or course, and it was most of the class (not that it was very big to begin with).

"Miazaki Cho," he called out as he went on, gaining a little squeal of delight from a slight blond girl who was wearing her hair short, with a normal headband to keep it out of her eyes. Later he called out a name that shocked no one…

"Nara Shiba," who just got up and walked over to the front, except when she almost tripped in shock at the next name…

"Nara Shibi!" The boy was quite vocal in his surprise.  
WHAT!" That was where Shiba didn't quite catch herself and her little trip became a full out fall. No one noticed, though, as everyone was looking at the odd Nara who was her twin. Naruto's mouth twitched.

"Yes, Shibi-san, you passed, but I wouldn't keep my mouth open like that if I were you or a fly might decide to investigate." Shibi's mouth shut quickly, but his face was now split by a large grin. He jumped up and started to run up to the stage, then paused, a strange look on his face, and purposefully stuck his hands in his pockets and just walked. That was about the same time Jiraiya woke up, and he was already playing with his mothers hair, so for the rest of the ceremony there was quite a bit of clapping.

_I did it… I really did it! I may be on my way to matchin' dad soon…_

_They passed a bunch of morons… they'll die faster than an ice cube dries in midsummer…_

_No-freakin'-way. This is too cool. I actually made it? Heehee. Maybe I have a chance with her after all!_

_Teehee! Akashi-kuuun…. I hope I'm on his team…_

Naruto looked over the new graduates as their friends and family cheered. He couldn't help but notice just how much happiness was in the room, and their joy filled him with more. He thought back on his old reasons for wanting to become Hokage, so that everyone would look up to him and respect him. He had to chuckle as he looked over at his wife and child. He reached over and embraced them, giving Hinata another peck on the cheek. She gave a faint blush. She looked so cute when she did that.

"Naruto-kun, what in the _world_ has gotten into you," she said in a playful voice. He just hugged her again.

"I was just thinking; I love the people of this village. I happy that I get to watch over them, and see their joy, making it my own. But most of all, I love my beautiful hime and my son. What more could I want?" Hinata smiled, and they turned to join everyone in the refreshments and mingle with their old friends.

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Meanwhile, there was a certain pink haired kunoichi elsewhere in Konoha, wearing the same basic uniform she had when she'd been an advanced chuunin. The main differences came in the form of two black stripes down either side of her top. They came down her shoulders, moving around to her sides, and would zip forward halfway down, then halfway back before continuing down, while in the back they curved to come together just under her shoulder blades and shoot straight down, with a pink emblem of cherry blossom above it. She had the same symbol on her right just above her elbow as a tattoo, but with black outlines. And of course, she had the anbu tattoo on her left shoulder from her short tenure there as the black ops official medic nin and brute power.

Now, as the best medic-nin in the world, Haruno Sakura didn't socialize much anymore. She knew that graduation was that day, but she didn't go much anymore. She had actually conducted a couple before, but she felt she did poorly. She was sure everyone was bored by her. Hinata did a much better job of getting the right mood going. But then again, why shouldn't she? She had everything she ever wanted; Naruto's love, and confidence in herself. Sakura… she was always left behind, never quite keeping up with her friends, _or_ her dreams. Every time she went to a graduation, she couldn't help but look at them and think, _Who is the Sasuke here?_ She always wondered, who it would be to betray their friends, who would turn away. It was depressing, and so, after a little while, she told Naruto she couldn't do it anymore. He'd just looked at her sadly then, speaking little.

"Yeah, I figured you'd be saying no about now."

"What? What do you mean?" He sighed, looking down and off to the side.

"Sakura-chan, don't pretend that we don't know each other better than any other two shinobi in the village. We're team seven, Sakura, and I know what's on your mind."

"Naruto…" He held up a hand.

"No, Sakura, I do. It's Sasuke, in some way, and what he did to us, how he's never around anymore, and all he ever does is train. I get it. The kids make you think too much. Why do you think I never stop you from pulling those extra shifts? You've always been happier when you have a problem you can solve, and people you can help. I'm just sorry that letting you lose yourself in your work is the best I can do as a friend."

Sakura tried to smile that time, but the next few minutes she had ended up crying into Naruto's shoulder as he held her in a friendly embrace, wishing he could take away her pain. No matter how hard he tried, however, he could never convince Sasuke to come back to stay. He would come of his own accord now and then, stay for maybe a week at most, avoiding everybody, maybe take a couple missions, and go off to train again, unless he'd been given a particularly hard mission, but those almost always took him outside the village. Almost twelve years since the defeat of Madara, and still he didn't come home.

So, on days like this, Sakura would go to their old training ground, the place where they had first become a team, even if they had left Naruto sitting on the pole. Every now and then she would make herself relive the memories, and see if she was ready to handle the pain. Every time, she wasn't ready. She still wasn't strong enough. Today, though, it seemed that she wouldn't be treading the old grounds alone.

"Yo," a familiar voice said. Sakura turned around, startled. Sure enough, there was her sensei, leaning casually against the very same pole he had once tied Naruto to, arms crossed, one hand raised.

"Kakashi sensei! What are you doing here? Isn't Akashi graduating today?" Kakashi gave her his one eyed smile.

"Oh yes, of course, he already did! He's celebrating with his friends, but I thought you might need some company." They paused. "Sakura, would you mind walking with me?"

"Huh?"

"I have something I want to show you." Sakura looked around at the training grounds again. She thought she already had her answer anyways; it was the same as always. Not yet. She turned back to her sensei and shrugged.

"Why not?" A short walk later found her at the memorial stone. She looked at it oddly. "Sensei, why did you take me here?" Kakashi didn't say anything for a moment. It took so long that Sakura almost asked again, but he started talking right before she did.

"You know, I've known a couple times over what it's like to lose someone, though I'm sure you knew that. Minato sensei, for example; you've known about him for years now. Then there were countless other shinobi from the great ninja war of my youth." He turned to look at her. "However, despite what I told you about this stone when you were younger, I didn't tell you why it's important to me. This is the story of my two greatest friends. Their names were Obito, and Rin. My greatest friend, and not to mention to one who gave me his Sharingan as a parting gift, and my first love. Also, they were _my_ teammates…" Kakashi spoke, and Sakura listened.

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" And so _I_ failed. I couldn't save Obito, and I couldn't protect Rin, and I failed Sasuke. Only Naruto was able to save him, in the end." Sakura looked up, slightly startled.

"But, Kakashi sensei! How can you say Sasuke was saved? He's- he's…"

"Hmmm… perhaps you are right, but isn't Sasuke as he is better than how he was?" Sakura looked down again.

"Sensei, is there any way to heal his heart?"

"If there is, we will find it." Sakura nodded, standing up.

"Thank-you, sensei, for telling me of your friends. I think- I think it may be helped, but I'm still not ready to… to really think about it." Kakashi nodded, getting up from his sitting position.

"Okay. Just remember, living in the past is what made Sasuke into what he was. It is looking to the future that will help you both, now." With that he was gone, headed off to see his wife and son. Sakura looked at the sky, thinking of Sasuke, then she shook her head and headed back to the hospital.

**so, i hope u liked it. Like i said in my note i put on the first chapter yesterday from this point on we'll be seeing more interactions of the normal Naruto characters and not just my OC's. While the concept came out of a conversation with my coworker about some...believable abilities (which have yet to be revealed, though kudo's to anyone who can figure out what sort of abilities they'll be), that concept including the two pairings i mentioned up top and how they would work. And continuing, these old characters will be important for the OC's development of character _and_ skill.**

**Once again, please review, and i hope ya'll enjoy the week.**


	8. The Youthful Sensei

**Okay! Hiatus is officially over! Sadly i only get to update two stories today. Kinds funny; i come home from college and everyone has a two hour time limit on the computer...well, at least when their just messing around on the thing. :( Oh well, i'll still get these chapters done, even if they're a little shorter than i want them to be. I was up to averaging about 4k words a chapter, but it's down a bit with my new ones. Please forgive me!**

**Anyways, dislcaimer, yadda yadda, enjoy the new chapters!**

"Alright," Naruto said, leaning over his desk, "who do we have available to be sensei's this year?" Shikamaru looked down the lists. "Well, let's see…we have most of the Rookie nine," he said, "except for Sasuke, of course, you and me, and also Choji. He's a little busy with a high level escort mission. He'll be gone for another few weeks. Not good timing. Oh, and Sai has a team right now as well." Naruto laughed.

"Shikamaru, we both knew those already! Who else?" Shikamaru sighed. He'd hoped he didn't have to go down the list. What a drag…

"Neji said he doesn't want a team for now. He's busy trying to get married and off on the honeymoon. Took him long enough," Shikamaru mumbled and Naruto grinned, of course. They both knew how Neji was with 'being emotional'. "Ten-ten is the same, of course, since she's been trying to get him to propose for years now. Lee… is _available_, but as always, he's a little crazy."

"Didn't stop the old man from making Gai a sensei," Naruto pointed out. Shikamaru grunted, going over a few more names before getting to some old friends again.

"Then of course we have a few older Shinobi, like Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei. While normally, I would say that they wouldn't want to be sensei's and instead just enjoy a nice quiet retirement, this year might be different…"

"But _I_ don't want them to be teaching just now," Naruto said, his face now serious. "Their kids need something else, don't you think?" Shikamaru grunted. He knew very well about Shika, and Naruto wasn't as dense as he used to be, especially since he used Sage mode to train just a little outside the village. He could sense everyone in the village, and he knew about Shika's dark aura, even if he didn't know what caused it.

"Well, that's it then. Now it just comes down to who we think will actually pass, and matching them up with the right senseis."

"Wait, just a second." Naruto stood up, walking quietly to a spot off to the side of the room. He stood there for a second, then jumped up and kicked a spot. Out came tumbling what _would_ have been a dignified Anbu member… except he'd been sneaking around like a little kid again.

"Ow boss! What was that for?" Naruto sighed, smiling a little.

"Konohamaru, did you really think I wouldn't know you were hiding there, trying to figure out if I'd make you a sensei?" The younger man jumped with the same energy that Naruto had always had.

"Yeah, well, if I'm gonna be hokage one day, then I need to catch up to you, and how can I do that without being a sensei!" Naruto smiled at his younger rival.

"Well, fortunately for you, I already decided on someone that I wanted you to teach." Konohamaru looked up eagerly.

"Say what boss? You've got someone for me to teach?" Naruto nodded.

"Yes; I just need to figure out his team mates now, so you go and make arrangements to tie up any loose ends you may have from being in Anbu. You got that?"

"Sure thing boss," Konohamaru shouted as he saluted before rushing out of the room, whooping with excitement. Shikamaru looked over at Naruto curiously.

"Already got someone in mind," he questioned. Naruto walked to his seat and leaned back in it.

"Yeah, I decided on _that_ one as soon as I passed this kid for graduation. They'll be perfect for each other! I just need to decide on who his teammates are now." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Alright then. We'd better get on with this if that's the case, even though it's gonna be a real drag." Naruto nodded, and they got back to work.

"So, let's see," Naruto said some time later. "We've got most of them taken care of, now we just need to take care of these nine, our best guesses for the new rookies."

"Though I still don't think Shibi's as ready as you say," Shikamaru said.

"Hey, you're family. You _have_ to be biased, whether it's for or against." Shikamaru sighed. "Anyways, I want him to be with Konohamaru. They've both got some spasticness in them, and Konohamaru needed to learn to slow down, too, when he was that young. I did it for him, and maybe he can do it for Shibi. However, even Konohamaru is a little _too_ spastic. Who do you think will balance them out?" Shikamaru looked over the list.

"I'd keep him and from being on the same team as his sister, Shiba. She'd only keep her attitude of his idiocy and talk down to him all the time, hindering all the progress he's made, according to you. He'll try and speed up again. However, That Hyuuga kid, Hisame, he's a bit of a stoic kid. It'll be a good balance to them, without going overboard on the seriousness.

"Then I'd also suggest Inuzuka Kashike. She's a good kid, somewhere between the middle, keeping either side from being too crazy. Meanwhile, we'll have someone with brute power, Inuzuka, someone with a level head, Hyuuga, and Shibi is actually fairly good with strategy and stealth, despite his impatience. Not really much in terms of long range, but they'll do." Naruto nodded.

"Okay, sounds good. After all, with a Hyuuga like Hisame, they should be able to get close enough, and once Shibi really starts getting the hang of your clans shadow techniques, they'll be able to handle more of the long range. Shall we move onto his sister then?" Shikamaru nodded.

"I know who I _don't_ want on that team," he said, Naruto nodding in understanding.

"Yes, I understand. She's a bit too serious for her own good, and takes her intelligence as a little too much of a reason to think down on others. She assumes a certain degree of superiority." He grimaced. "No sense of humor, either." He looked over the list, sighing. "Sadly, I'd say that the best match here will include her friend Touji Kaori. That girl's almost as dour as she is! However, they have good teamwork for mid-distance and close range combat. Each one knows how to tag in for the other so they can take a break. So, who do we put as their teammate?" Shikamaru thought for a moment.

"Well, while they _do_ work well together, they don't have much power, and only a little endurance _because_ they rely so much on their tag teaming. I'd say that Topha girl, Shizuki. She's a tough girl. Possesses strong taijutsu with a lot of endurance. She should be able to take anything that the other two can't until they learn better." The two men looked at each other and smirked.

"I also hear she's a rather merciless sparring partner," Naruto commented.

"Yup," Shikamaru nodded. "She'll have their endurance up in just a little while." Naruto flat out laughed.

"Haahaa! Yes, yes she will!" After a moment he calmed himself down. "Okay, sorry about that. Um… let's see… who do we pick as a sensei here?" They both mulled over that one for a little bit.

"What about Lee?" asked Shikamaru. "His…_energy_ might balance out the two girls. I mean, even Topha's a bit serious, even if it's not as much as the other two." Naruto shook his head.

"No, I've got something else in mid for him." Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow.

"Hmm. Good thing I was only joking then. I think you took that seriously. " Shikamaru looked at Naruto for a moment. "So, what special assignment does Lee have?" Naruto waved a hand lazily.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'll tell you in a bit." He paused. "You know… I think that maybe…" He rifled through his desk for a moment. "Ah, here it is," he said, pulling out a file. He blew a bit of dust off of it.

"Naruto, what in the world is that?" Naruto explained as he opened the file.

"Well, you see, over the years, we've accumulated a few other members of the village, some of them that actually have a bit of shinobi training. In this case, _this_ friend of mine knows quite a bit of water jutsu, but more importantly, she's a girl that knows what it's like to have a loner's attitude, and what it takes to change people." He tossed over the file. "Isaribi, is her name, and she's a good friend. Another bonus: because she focuses in water jutsu, she can be the long range of the group, if they need it." Shikamaru looked over her file.

"Naruto… it doesn't look like she's actually a shinobi at all… can we trust her with this?" Naruto smiled.

"She's done a fair bit of training, don't worry. She has a good grasp of the basics, which _really_ is what we look for most for training our genin anyways, right?" The other man sighed.

"Yes, of course, but _still_, I'm not sure it's such a good idea, Naruto. We need someone with more skill!"

"No, what we _need_ is someone who can teach them the things _they_ need to know. It doesn't really matter their skill level, even if that _is_ what we usually use to choose teachers. I mean, look at Iruka sensei! He was chuunin level for years, but one of the best teachers Konoha has ever had. You get my point, Shikamaru?" The man looked somewhat perturbed, but finally shrugged.

"It'd be too troublesome to make you change your mind," he muttered, "so I guess I'll go with it." Naruto smirked.

"Yeah, people seem to have a _lot_ of trouble making me change my mind," he replied. He looked down at the list of genin remaining. "So, I guess we have our last team," he said, "along with their teacher."

"Yes of cour-wait… _along _with their _teacher_?" Naruto's smirk had yet to leave his face as he waited for the genius to catch up. Sure enough in a couple of seconds the man's eyes opened widely. "No… no way! Surely not even _you_ could be that cruel! I mean, come on! I was thinking of a worst case scenario here, but this? No way!"

"Oh _yes _way," Naruto replied. "Yes way."

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The next day at the academy was a tense one to start with, just as it is every year for new academy graduates as they wait for their Sensei's. Hardly anyone was really talking, being a bit nervous. Shibi and Akashi were talking, though, just a little bit. Akashi was congratulating Shibi on his graduating while Shibi kept making little jokes and trying not to bounce his legs at a hundred miles an hour in his nervousness, and occasionally glanced over at one of the girls in the class.

Shika just leaned back in her seat. She was looking forward to getting out on missions. She didn't want to have to keep up her face too much, and it had been getting tiring in the academy. Now, though, now she wouldn't have to do it as much. She wouldn't have to pretend to be happy all the time. They would be doing serious ninja stuff, and under the guise of concentration, she could drop her mask. She opened her eye suddenly as she felt someone next to her desk. It was that Nara kid, Shibi. He was smiling a little nervously.

"Hey, how ya doing Shika?" She quirked an eyebrow. She well knew that he was about the worst in the class. No, he _was_ the worst. She couldn't hardly believe that the kid had passed, he was so weak and useless. She just shrugged and he chuckled. "Well, anyways, I just wanted to say congrats and um, well, I hope I can be on your team," he said hopefully. She couldn't help herself. She snorted.

"Why the _heck_ would anyone want to be on a team with someone as weak as you," she asked, a little of her underlying coldness in her voice. He looked a little taken a back, but he kept going.

"Yeah, I'm not the best by any means..."

"No kidding," she muttered. Shibi blushed as he continued.

"But I'm not gonna give up! I know what I was doing wrong now, and I'm not gonna stop getting better!" Shika let her chair fall down so all four legs were touching the ground.

"Listen, I don't what you're trying to do, but once we're outta here, I'm not gonna let all you _losers_ keep me down," she said quietly. "Now get away from me and hide in your corner with your _loser_ friend Akashi. It's a wonder either of you goofballs graduated." Something flashed in Shibi's eyes, but all he did was smile.

"Just wait," he said. "One day, one day I'm gonna make sure you acknowledge me, and then you'll see I'm not a weak loser! Just wait," he said, and he walked away. Shika watched him for a moment, and her face lost its mask. She looked after him with a look of almost bored anger. She'd been feeling this anger for so long that on a normal person it would just look like exasperation, but anyone could feel the hate and anger that was come off of her. However, before anyone could try and fid the source of the hate, she was back to her reclining. No one even had a clue, except Shibi, of course. Akashi was too busy burying his head in his arms.

"Oh come on! You get a crush, and it has to be her?" Shibi just shrugged as he sat down in his seat again. "Come on, Shibi, she's the most annoying person I've ever seen! She even painted on the Hokage faces the other week, remember?"

"So did Hokage-sama when he was our age," Shibi pointed out. Akashi slapped his forehead.

"Ah, look, she didn't even care when you went over! Doesn't that tell you that you need to stop wasting your time on her?" Shibi looked over at the girl again, thinking.

"Actually, she just gave me more reason. She's… not what we think she is," he said.

"Whatever," his friend said. "I just hope I don't get put on her team. That would suck beyond al belief."

"For you. Personally, I don't think I want to be on her team right now either, maybe; then I can grow without her knowing, and then show her how I've changed, and then if you _were_ on her team," he said, grinning as Akashi groaned at the thought, "then you could tell me what she'd done and then I can stand a chance of beating her after all!"

After that, everyone just waited for Iruka to come in. A couple of students were there that had repeated, and they were the only ones that weren't excited. They knew what was coming, at least, but they'd promised not to tell anyone. They figured they'd probably be back soon, anyways, but no reason to give the other kids a heads up before them. After a little while longer of waiting, not only Iruka but also the Hokage, Naruto, came in.

"Well, everyone, it's good to see you again," the blond said. "It seems like just a little while ago that I was in this room with my friends, becoming genin and getting ready to be real shinobi. So, I just wanted to give you all my congratulations, and of course to announce the teams." He held out his hand to Iruka who gave him the folder with the assignments him and Shikamaru had worked on. Iruka took a moment to speak.

"Now, I want you all to know that you will probably be disappointed for your first bit as genin, but don't let it bother you. After all, you are _beginning_ shinobi, and as such your main focus will be to know learn the _really_ important skills for your selves as individuals, rather than how we do things in the academy, focusing on the group. Still, remember the importance of teamwork, and you'll make it through. Got it?"

"Hai, sensei!" Iruka smiled, though he knew inside that he'd been seeing some of them again. It was a good thing this class was so small. Only six would be sent back. Though in the future they were preparing to get even smaller class sizes. They hoped it would improve the quality of the genin if they _could_ do more individual focus in the academy, and that would mean that the shinobi would be ready to be chuunin faster, and they could maybe even start graduating classes more often, in the end holding fewer students back, but they weren't sure how that would go yet. Still, for now it was this group's turn to become shinobi.

"Alright," Naruto said, "here are the teams along with their team number!

"First we have team 2! Team two will consist of Nara Shiba, Touji Kaori, and Topha Shizuki." The first two girls smirked at being put on the same team while the third chuckled, arms folded, at them being on an all girl squad. She could have preferred teammates with a little more humor, but she could make it work.

"Team 3, you will consist of Hyuuga Hisame, Inuzuka Kashike, and Nara Shibi!" Shibi looked both put out and eager, while the Hyuuga eyed his new teammates a little warily. He knew both to be a bit light hearted, though the Inuzuka was less so than Shibi, but he supposed it would work out. Kashike was a little disappointed to be with the spaz, but at least he would be fun. Shibi just figured that their mesh of taijutsu would be good for him to improve with and be ready to face Shika one day. Another team was read, and then…

"Alright, and now for team 6! Team 6 will consist of, Hatake Akashi!" _Frik! It's my turn! There's only 5 other people left! That means about a two in five chance for any of them! Including Shika!_

"Sarutobi Shika!" _CRAP! I KNEW IT!_ Akashi's thoughts were fairly well echoed by Shika. She turned to stare at the boy who always second guessed himself. He was currently banging his head on his desk. She smiled, though inwawrdly she was hardly amused. At least he felt the same way she did about being on a team. Maybe he would just stay out of her way…

"And Miazaki Cho!"

"YES!" A small brunette girl wearing her headband so that he held up her bangs jumped up in excitement.

"Well, glad to see _someone_ is happy with this team assignment," Naruto said, one corner of his mouth twisted up in a grin. The girl immediately sat back down in her chair, hands in her lap and looking down, and embarrassed blush on her face.

"Gomen, Hokage-sama." Naruto chuckled.

"Meh, don't worry about it. When I got assigned my genin team I did the same thing." He crinkled his nose a little bit. "Course, it was because my crush was on my team… still can't figure out why I did it…" He shrugged. "But hey, I found the girl of my dreams later, so who cares! But, still we have one more team to announce, not they you don't know who you are now. So, team 9…"

A few moments of seat changes later as everyone was given a chance to go sit with their new teams (Shika and Akashi chose not to move, however… though that Cho girl sat rather close to Akashi) and Naruto made his final announcement.

"So, now that you all know your team numbers and team mates, you will have one hour to get some lunch and get a chance to know your team mates a little better as _teammates_, in addition to-" but Naruto never got to finish as a green blur entered the room

"YOSH! It's time to move forward, my young genin, and bask in the might of youth!" Naruto smacked his head.

"Lee," he said, as the green jumpsuit clad man stayed in his pose (gleaming teeth, pointing to the sky, hand on his hip, yeah, typical Lee). "Lee, you aren't supposed to be here for another hour. Your genin still haven't had a chance to even eat lunch!"

"Ah, gomen, Naruto-kun! However, if they are to prepared for the trials ahead, it is best to face it now than to put it off for later!" Naruto rolled his eyes. The class was staring in fear at the strange man that had rushed into the room. Some were even cowering in their seats (though one particularly frightened lad and managed to jump up into the lap of the teammate next to them… they were quickly and roughly pushed off). Everyone was praying the same thing the moment they heard Naruto confirm that this crazy man was one of their senseis: _Please, please, PLEASE don't let that be my sensei!_ Well, sadly, the lot fell on three poor genin.

"Yosh! Team 6! Meet me on the roof top in three minutes!" Then he ran away screaming, "for the power of youth!" Every genin in the room breathed a sigh of relief, though a few gave their 'final farwells' to the three doomed genin of team 6.

"Hehe, nice knowing ya, Akashi!"

"Hey Shika! Maybe he can teach you how to drive people new fits of laughter… in your green jumpsuit!"

They quickly ran from the room, not wanting to bear anymore of _that_ kind of taunting. Shika kicked a random cup that had been left in the hallway as they walked to the roof.

"Why'd we have to get a creep like _that_ as a sensei?"

"Yeah," Akashi said, "he doesn't even look like he knows where the roof is!" Shika looked at him a little surprised, and he did the same. They had _never_ agreed on something before. Cho looked back and forth at them quickly before intervening.

"Well, maybe there's a reason! I mean, isn't a shinobi supposed to look underneath the beneath? May it's a trick to fool people." Akashi thought for a moment.

"No," he said, shuddering. "My dad's talked about a guy almost just like this one. I've even seen him a couple times. Randomly challenges my dad to crazy games. Might Gai I think was his name. Acts just like this guy. Dad says he was born that way, bowl cut and all." Cho dropped her head in despair.

"We're doomed!"

"Not yet," Shika said, looking at a clock on the wall. "If he's as crazy as this 'Might Gai' your dad knows, Akashi, then if we don't get to the roof in another 55 seconds, _then_ we're doomed." She then took off, laughing maniacally while the other two rushed to catch up, suddenly in even more fear than before.

Meeting them on the roof was a much calmer Rock Lee than they had met in the classroom. He was leaning against the fence while his head was turned and looking at the horizon of trees outside the village. His three new pupils walked quietly over to him and sat down. Cho was sitting on the steps next to Akashi who was sitting attentively on the same step. Shika, however, had jumped up and sat on the edge of the railing on their right. They stayed like that for a few moments before Lee turned around and looked at them.

"Very well," he said, smiling widely, "I've made you wait long enough. I apologize for not paying attention, my young pupils," he said, flashing them a huge smile. "So, let's begin by introducing ourselves!

"My name is Rock Lee, and I specialize in taijutsu! I have no true talent as a shinobi, but through sheer hard work and youthful energy I became a Jounin though I possess neither ninjutsu nor taijutsu, proving my dream that you can be a splendid ninja without being a genius!" There was a moment of silence while he looked at the three genin and they looked back at him. "Well," he said, "what are you waiting for? Tell me about yourselves!" The three looked at each other for a moment now before Cho spoke up.

"Well, my name is Miazaki Cho. I… I don't really think I have any particular talent, but I became a shinobi because I wanted to help people and protect them."

"That is good," Lee said. "I true shinobi should always be looking out for those in need because after all, you never know who's help _you_ may need one day. Hokage Naruto is a fine example of that; he has always looked to help others and because of that we now have the allegiance of many powerful villages, nations, and individuals! Follow this dream and I know you will be able to help many people!" He gave her a thumbs up with his right hand (arms still folded) and his teeth sparkled as he smiled. Cho shuddered a little bit. _How does he DO that?_ Lee then looked at the next person expectantly. Akashi rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, um, my Name is uh, Hatake Akashi." There was a gleam that showed in Lee's eye for a moment. "I guess I'm good at note taking, but not much else. I guess what I want to do as a shinobi is…" and he thought for a moment. "What I want to do is stand out on my own instead of everyone only thinking of my dad when they see me." Lee nodded.

"Yes, Kakashi sensei casts a most large shadow, but with hard work and applying what you learn, you will one day shine so brightly with your youthfulness that you will outshine his shadow!" Akashi's eyes widened. _Ooookaayyy….is this guy really a jounin, or is Hokage-sama playing a joke on us?_ Lee finally turned to Shika, motioning for her to finish. She smiled brightly and swung back and forth from her perch on the rail.

"My name is Sarutobi Shika," she exclaimed, taking a hand to point her thumb back at her chest. "I'm the daughter of Yuuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma! My grandpa was the third Hokage, and one day I'm gonna be a great shinobi like they were!" Lee looked at her a little oddly. She shrunk back a little bit. True, he had shown that he was a little deeper than she initially seemed back in the classroom, but she had thought that he was a really straight forward guy and would accept that kind of 'perky' attitude.

"I see," he said. "Hmm. Well, I'm sure that one day you will be a great Shinobi, but right now I sense that your youthful spark is missing something…" She gulped, but he smiled again as if nothing had happened. "No worries! Well get that taken care of as soon as you pass your test tomorrow." Akashi gagged in surprise while Cho turned white and Shika looked at him in surprise.

"Lee sensei, what are you talking about? We already graduated! We're Shinobi now, aren't we?" Lee smiled and shook his head, waving a hand back and forth.

"Not quite. You see, the academy is only a way to find out who _might_ have the youthful power to become a shinobi, but it is up to us, the Jounin sensei's, to discover if you _truly_ have what it takes by testing you in way that is different than that of the academy, or else," he said, smiling dropping, "you will be sent back to the academy."

"WHAT!" This came from Shika most, but all three new genin yelled out. Lee ignored it.

"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning at 6:30. Be at training ground fifteen at that time, or you will fail automatically…" All three gulped and looked at each other nervously as he flipped over the side and leaped away over the house tops.

**Yes, yes, did it; i made LEE a sensei! That's the way my friend and I came up with the story working when we first came up with the idea for this story, and it's just kinda fun to write cause that guys so crazy!**

**Also, to those of you who can remember from the previous chapters, yes, I wrote Cho as a blond before, but when i started writing again, i will admit that i forgot until i reread some of my past chapters, and by then i already had a pretty firm image in my head what she was going to look like, so i kept her with brown hair and i'm changing the reference to her with blond hair. Thanks for bearing with me!**

**Hey, don't forget to review! I like to get feed back on all my chapters! Hope you continue to enjoy the story; have a good one! (and don't forget to read the next chapter, too!)**


	9. Precious Possessions

**So, i apologize for this, but when i meant to make a change to the first chapter, the intro, yesterday, i seem to have replaced this chapter as well. Thanks go out to "XoStarcicleoX" for noticing this and telling me... Gosh that was embarrassing...**

**Anyways, like i said, this should be the CORRECT chapter nine, Precious Possessions. Here our main characters get a change to talk with their parents breifly about the crazy Lee-sensei, and then their test will start, but the details of the test will be in the next chapter, along with the recognitions for the test ideas (although those who suggested the ideas should have no problem recognizing them as they come; thanks so much for the help, guys!)**

**Anyways, that should be it, so go ahead and enjoy the chapter!**

"DAD!" Akashi had run in quickly, not even bothering to take his shoes off, an angry look on his face. "DAD! YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS TEST, DIDN'T YOU! WHERE ARE YOU? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!"

Kakashi sighed as he closed his booklet. It contained pictures of his family over the years. He had wanted to look at the happy times when they were all together before his son came home yelling at him for not telling him about the second test. He grabbed the edge of the roof and flipped into the kitchen where Hatake Choko was rolling her eyes at her boys antics.

"Yo," said Kakashi , giving his one eyed smile as usual, seemingly indifferent to his sons yelling.

"Well! What have you got to say for yourself, dad? Now I'm in a panic because I have no idea what's coming!"

"Really? Hmm… doesn't seem any different from what any other academy student has happen to them… Hokage-sama didn't have any idea what was coming either, and each jounin's test is different anyways." Akashi plopped down in a chair, butt forward and head back, one hand covering his face.

"ARG! Come on dad! You have no idea what I'm going through! I mean, I got a freakin' lunatic for a sensei!" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Who _is_ your sensei then?"

"Some moron named Rock Lee." Kakashi face faulted, along with Choko, who almost spilled the boiling pot of water on herself. Akashi jumped up as he heard the banging, surprised to find his parents twitching on the floor.

"Um, mom, dad, what are you guys doing?" Kakashi recovered, lifting himself up with the edge of the table, shaking his head as if to clear it.

"So let me get this straight, your sensei is Rock Lee?" Akashi nodded and Kakashi shook his head in exasperation.

"Ugh; if I'd known Naruto was _that_ desperate for sensei's I would have volunteered to come out of retirement." He took a seat.

"Dear, isn't that the man that was practically a clone of that Gai person who kept challenging you to random contests all the time, even when I was about to give birth?" Kakashi nodded and she groaned. "Ugh; I sure hope this doesn't mean we start getting more challenges again." Kakashi chuckled.

"No, ever since I convinced Gai to retire, he's accepted that we were tied and gave me a thumbs up and a speech about how truly eternal our rivalry was that we never determined a who was better, so we must be equals." Choko sighed in relief. Kakashi turned back to Akashi. "Well, all I can say is that I expect you're going to have a very physically hard day tomorrow. He told you he can only use taijutsu, right?"

"Yeah," Akashi said, nodding. "I guess he must be really good at it if he made Jounin on taijutsu alone, huh?" Kakashi nodded.

"Yup; his taijutsu is better than mine, I'd wager." Akashi stared and his father laughed. "Oh don't be so surprised! He may not be one of the legendary 'rookie nine' the academy still talks about, but he and his teammates might as well have been. The twelve of them did a lot together so even though they were separated by a year, it was like they all gradated at the same time, and they _all_ surpassed their sensei's. Lee is better now than Gai ever was," he informed his son.

"Wow… guess he's a little better than I gave him credit for…"

"Yeah," Kakashi affirmed, wincing. "He's good, but as you noticed a very _odd_ character. He's _so_ odd I never expected him to teach, but then again, they _did_ have Gai as a teacher…" He looked thoughtful before giving his son a serious look. "Just _promise_ me that you will _never_ wear that green jumpsuit!" As scary a look as Kakashi gave his son, his first reaction was to gag at the idea of wearing such a horrid costume, and Kakashi settled back feeling assured that he wouldn't have to see his some come home one day wearing one of those… _things_… into his home.

.

.

.

"So, dear, who's your team mates and sensei," Kurenai asked her daughter as she came into the house. Shika shuddered.

"Ugh, mom, it's some crazy guy named Rock Lee. He's insane! He-" Shika looked at her mother a little confused. "Um, mom… why are you laughing like that?" Kurenai wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, nothing much. I just know _his_ sensei, and I knew him back when he was a genin pretty well, too." She sighed, smiling at some of the memories. "Yes, him and his teammates, Neji and Ten-ten, were practically in the same group as the rookie nine, they hung out so much. All twelve became Jounin, of course." Shika continued to star at her.

"Lee-sensei knew Hokage-sama?"

"_Knows_, dear, _knows_ Naruto-san. We all did, quite well in fact. The two of them are quite good friends, though I must admit I didn't expect Naruto to make Lee a sensei… ever! Still…" Kurenai contemplated what she knew about her daughter, then realized she still didn't know who the girl's teammates were. "Now, who are your teammates again Shika?" Shika stopped staring long enough to roll her eyes.

"Oh, just some crazy girl names Cho, then Akashi's on my team. Heh, that guy's funny; can't even control his chakra reliably!" Kurenai shrugged. She couldn't disagree…but it was the Hokage she found herself not able to disagree with. Lee's exuberance might help pull her daughter out of her depression, or whatever it was, and his spirit might even help Akashi stop trying to be his father all the time, giving the boy some confidence.

"Well, I'm sure Naruto-san had a good reason for doing it. Are you… _looking forward_ to the test tomorrow?" Shika laughed.

"Hah! Like that crazy nut could come up with something he could fail me at! I probably had the best grades in the class!" Kurenai smirked.

"Oh, I doubt you've ever had a test quite like _this _before…no, especially not if it's Lee-san giving it."

.

.

.

The next morning found two of the three tiredly dragging themselves to the specified training ground. These were Akashi and Cho. They were dressed in their normal shinobi attire. For Akashi this a suit very similar to what he father had worn as a young shinobi. It was a very dark blue and he had small metal guards on each shoulder. He also had guards on his shins and forearms. Each of these was coated in a deep green so that it wouldn't flash and be easily seen. He had donned these specifically for their test today. Then of course he had his ninja pack on his belt around his waist and a holster on his right leg, and his headband was worn on his forehead, though since he had no eyes that needed special care, it sat _completely_ on his forehead, where as his father, of course, wore it hanging to cover his sharingan eye.

Cho was wearing a slightly loose fitting shirt with short sleeves colored black with a star burst in the center. She had her belt actually lung over her right shoulder, the tool pack resting at her left hip. Her holster was also on her left leg. For her lower half she was wearing a tight pair of black leggings that came down to just above her knees and a brown skirt over that (Anko style). Both of them were quite blearily eyed, walking into the clearing with their arms hanging and hunched over like zombies. She wore her headband in her hair, pulling the bangs of her short hair back.

Shika on the other hand was quite alert. She had woken up a little earlier than the other too and gone on a slight job to get the blood pumping. He mom had made her a bit wary, so she wanted to be nice and warmed up for this _test_ Lee sensei was giving them. She was still wearing her normal dark clothes with loose sleeves, hiding her favorite melee weapons. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail, a couple strands framing each side of her face, and her head band was worn around her neck.

Despite the early morning, they all stared as they arrived at the training grounds to find that their sensei was not only already there, but moving so fast they could barely keep track of his movements. He seemed to be both training, and setting up some sort of obstacles course at the same time. After a few moments, and right on time, he stop and jumped, landing right in front of his pupils, feet together, knees bent and stretched out, and arms flung outwards as well.

"Very well, it is good to see you, my young shinobi, on this fine morning," he said, flashing them a thumbs up before standing and crossing his arms. "I have a very good day planed for us in which you will prove that you truly are capable of becoming shinobi!" He threw a hand back to point behind him. "To do this, each of you must successfully navigate this obstacles course, completing all the challenges that lie there in. You will only have four hours to complete this task, or a prized possession will be lost by you this day!" Cho looked at him oddly.

"But, sensei, what 'prized possession' could you possibly have?" Lee's eyes lit up with a glint of fire.

"Yesterday I visited each of your parents and asked them to show me what it was in your possession that you most value, then during the night I came in and got it." Akashi began to mumble something about stupid fathers, but Shika and Cho laughed.

"As if! There's no way you could possibly have one of my 'prized possessions'" Shika said, Chi nodding in agreement.

"Ah, but I do!" He first turned to Akashi. "Akashi san, according to your mother, what you prize most is... a certain book!" He pulled out a familiar looking book with an orange cover. Akashi began to freak.

"Wah! That's not mine! That's my dad's!" Lee frowned. "Hmm… I thought it looked a bit too familiar. I seem to recall Kakashi sensei getting very upset one someone damaged one of these…" Akashi paled as Lee grinned. "Very well, it shall do, seeing as how I shall be destroying your possessions if you fail to navigate the obstacle course. Kakashi sensei may not take well to learning it is your fault that his book was destroyed." Akashi turned paper white as Shika sniggered and Cho began to wring her heads. She didn't want anything bad to happen to Akashi-kun…then she realized Lee was turning to her.

"Cho, your parents seemed to agree that this photo is quite highly prized by you…" He began to whip it out, but Cho screeched as she recognized it and tried to grab it right then and there.

"NO! Don't show it, don't show it!" Lee's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Why not? After all, it's just a picture of Ak-"

"AAAAH! NOOOO! DON'T SAY IT!" Lee eyed her with confusion as she continued to try and grab the picture away, but went ahead and tucked it back under his vest.

"Very well, I shall not reveal what the picture is of, but you may wish to save your _very_ youthful energy for the obstacle course rather than waste it trying to fight me. As an expert in taijutsu my speed is above that of almost every other Jounin in the world." After falling on her face for probably the seventh time, she tried to scratch the dirt out of her hair and stood.

"Alright then, I'll defiantly finish it in time!" Lee nodded.

"Very good." He turned back towards Shika, who had now lost any semblance of happiness, but this change didn't seem to faze Lee at all. "And according to Kurenai sensei, _your_ most treasured possession-"

"Better not be in there," she said dangerously. Akashi and Cho were very surprised by this change that came over the otherwise cheerful girl. They had _never_ seen her even close to this. Even her sulking was completely different than this. What was going on? Lee, of course, missed it all, simply smiling and pulling out a cloth with an old leaf headband lying on it.

"Your fathers final shinobi possessions. Asuma sensei was very great man, and it is good to know that you honor his memory." Shika's head was down, he fists clenched.

"Give them back," she said quietly, before lifting her face. "Give them back NOW!" She charged Lee, taking out her father's knives and began to attack him. However, she had no more of an easy time than Cho had had. Lee was simply too fast, even for her.

"Ah yes, you would of course be angry at the idea of losing these. So, instead of attacking me, meet me at the end of the course. Let it be noted that if you try and cheat, you will fail, and your possession will be destroy. Your time starts… NOW!" And with that they saw Lee hit the ground with one fist, causing a huge cloud of dust to appear. The three genin coughed in the smoke.

"Where is he? Where is he?"

"What the _heck_ is going on?"

"Ah! I need to start!"

The dust cleared, and they saw the huge dent in the earth caused by their sensei's hand, but Rock Lee himself was nowhere to be seen. Shika looked around quickly before turning back to the other two.

"I'm getting my father's stuff back no matter what, so don't you guys get in my way." With that she began to run at the first part of the course; it was a pit with poles sticking out here and there that you could walk on, but between many of these were other swinging obstacles that tried to intercept you or knock you down. It was a nightmare. Cho and Akashi looked at each other and gulped.

"Well, I guess we better get moving, huh?" Cho nodded.

"Yep." She held out her hand. "Good luck, Akashi-kun." He shook it and turned, running to start the course. After all, they only had four hours, and his dad would _not_ like his book getting destroyed.

"You too, Cho-san." She grimaced. It wasn't Cho-_chan_ yet, but she'd get it there…one day… But for now she had to get back that picture of Akashi-kun, before he saw what it was…

And so their final genin test with Rock Lee began.

**Alright, the test has begun! Lee's a bit crazy, huh? Anyone else notice his mood swings? Also, he's a little more observant than he lets on, if you remember the last chapter when he knew shika's "flames of youth" were a bit dim.**

**Anyways, hope ya'll like. Hopefully i don't mess up when i post this again... and don't forget to read the last chapter, too, if this story was on story alert for you as i replaced the notice of my hiatus with a REAL chapter. **

**Hope ya'll continue to enjoy, please review!**

**ps-disclaimer, yadda yadda yadda**


	10. Pass or Fail, What Makes a Ninja

**Okay, first off, sorry for taking two and a half weeks instead of just two. I had a lot of trouble with the the test. I had several parts i knew to include, but not the whole. AS you know, there is an obstacle course, but i only knew the last part of it and the first part, thanks to several readers sending me their ideas! These readers will all be credited at the end of this chapter! YAY!**

**Also, i realized, thanks to a new reader, that when i replaced the first chapter with an update, that i'd also done it on the LAST chapter (chapter 9), so i think there's a few people that missed it since i made that mistake, so you might need to read the last chapter...hopefully not!**

**Anyways, this chapter is the longest i've EVER written for ANY of my stories! I wanted to get the whole test into one chapter, and it was longer than expected, but it was OH so much fun to write!**

**So, go ahead, see how our little friends do in their final gennin test! Read and review!**

**disclaimer- naruto not mine, kishimoto's etc, as well as scenes taken from the episodes 'fourth hokage's legacy'.**

As it turned out, the first part, jumping the poles without getting knocked over, wasn't too bad…compared to the _rest_ of what they had to do.

After the initial obstacle, they all ran down a path. Shika was a bit further ahead than Akashi and Cho, who were nearly side by side, Akashi slightly ahead, and running full speed. Both of them hesitated when they came across a fence.

"What the heck?" Cho caught up to her teammate.

"Hahaha, what's, ha, next?" He pointed to the fence.

"It looks like sensei wants us to go into this place, but it says it's forbidden!" Cho slapped her forehead.

"Great! Not only is he crazy, he's insane! We're gonna get killed!" stopped her antics as she noticed Akashi's intense face. "Akashi-kun? What is it?" He spoke as he continued to look at the area around the fence.

"Well, I was just thinking, this fence doesn't have a door, and yet the signs very clearly led us to this point. It's taken us about forty-five minutes to get this far, and there's no sign of Shika. Besides that," he said, bending to pick up a rock and toss it at the fence, "the fence is…" BZZZTTT!... "electric."

Cho simpley stared wide eyed at the charcoaled rock before stammering, "s, so wait, how are we supposed to get through this then?" Akashi scratched the top of his head angrily.

"Ah, that's what bothers me most; Look over there!" he pointed to a small stand off to the side slightly. It read, "take one: tiger scroll", but the slot was empty. Cho Akashi started to fume a little. "You see! She took them all! That was supposed to get us through the rest of this, but that darn girl already took them all, making sure that _we'd_ fail!" Akashi continued to rant a little until Cho, who had been observing the fence, spoke up.

"Um, Akashi? What about that hole there?" Akashi stopped, mid rant, to see a gap in the fence, just big enough for them.

"heheh, well, would you look at that?" He steeled his face. "Well, anyways, we need to get moving as quickly as possible. The only way to get through now is to catch up to Shika and get that scroll!" Cho nodded.

"Right!" And so they took off again, careful not to touch the fence as they slid through…

.

.

.

_Feh, what is this gibberish?_ Shika was sitting down cross legged, reading the words over and over as she stood before a bridge. It looked a lot like a spider web, actually, but these lines from the scroll didn't make any sense, yet she felt innately that they would be important.

_Close the blade_ and _calm the heart? What the heck?_ She silently fumed , looking at the sky. A full hour had now passed. She'd been sitting her there for about ten minutes, and she was getting impatient. Still, Shikamaru sensei had taught her to be patient and to think things through, so she did. Of course, he also said that the best fighters take in their surroundings… she stood and began to observe the rock walls around her, before finding an almost totally worn away sign, carved into the rocks. "Tightrope Spider Bridge"…so there _was_ a spider involved… it would have to be a big one…She looked down at the words once again. _Close the blade, calm the heart…_ Well, it didn't make complete sense, but she'd see what happened. She was fast enough she could figure it out as she went.

So, she cautiously took a step onto the bridge, testing it. _Ick, sticky…wait…tight rope?_ She looked back at the sign, then at the two straight strands on either side of what one would usually consider steps…and stepped on one. _Hmmm, not sticky at all…is that the trick? Don't see what this has to do with the words at all…eh, whatever._ And so she began to walk along the bridge, careful not to lose her footing, which she _did_ almost do when she heard a shout.

"Hey Shika! Get over here you good for nothing cheater!" She turned back in surprise at her two _teammates_ running up to the bridge. She smiled inwardly. They weren't going to take their time, and then they'd get stuck on the sticky webs. She turned to keep going, then faltered. _Cheater?_ She turned around angrily.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHEATER LOOSER!" Akashi and Cho were on the web now, and they took several steps before noticing the webbing slowing them down, but Akashi at least_ started _ to reply.

"YOU took all the tiger scrolls you piece of scum! You're trying to make sure we fail, aren't…you… Hey what's this?" Shika grit her teeth, slamming her foot down, forgetting about the web.

"You moron! There was only one there in the first place! It's not _my _fault if you two are to slow to keep up!"

"Ha! Liked I'd believe that! Now what's the deal with this web!"

"Umm, guys?"

"Humph! Like I'm gonna tell you! You'd be wasted as a ninja any ways!"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Uh, guuuuys?"

"You're weak and you're a looser! You can't even bend chakra right! How do you expect-"

"Shika, look out behind you!" Shika stopped in surprise at Cho's outburst, almost not looked behind her, but her eyes widened and she jumped high in the sky as the spider struck, just missing her.

_Woah! How did Cho see that coming and I didn't_ wondered Akashi. _And how come Shika didn't know? Doesn't that scroll…_

"Hey Shika! What's on the scroll!" Shika landed a few strands away using both feet and one arm to support herself, taking not of what was stick out on the rest of the web.

"Why should I tell you," she shouted back as she unstuck herself to dodge the spider again.

"Well, didn't it say something about the spider, or how to beat it?" She let out a short laugh.

"Ha! As if! It's just a bunch of gibberish! Like the first two lines: _close the blade, calm the heart_! It doesn't make any sense at all!" Akashi took a few moments to think as Cho began to shake.

"This is nuts! I don't care if I have to go back to the academy, this isn't worth it!" She started trying to run back to the cliff; just at that moment, Shika was in the air, and Akashi noticed that it never started to move again until she landed…but now it was heading for them!

Akashi's eyes flashed and he turned back to Cho and yelled.

"Cho! Stop running! Don't move! Shika, you either!" Cho stopped, turning to look at him confused, Shika giving him an incredulous look.

"What? Are you crazy! That think will tear us all to shreds if we don't move!"

"No! Close the blade, calm the heart! It's about movement and intention! We need to be calm and sit still! It only moves to where it can feel vibrations on the web!" Shika stopped moving, looking at him in surprise when she realized that the spider hadn't shown up until they'd started their argument on the web, and coming to Akashi's observation that the spider never followed her while she was in the air…

As she landed, she took out a small batch of kunai and three then at another part of the web, away from where she was. Sure enough, as soon as she had landed, the spider had been drawn to her, no longer feeling the vibrations from Cho, and assuming that its adversary had once again jumped…then jumped again. Shika sat very still as her kunai struck the web, causing more vibrations to occur away from her. The spider followed, rushing to the area, and trying to attack the empty space. When nothing was there, the three young shinobi carefully waited as the huge spider kept turning in circles, waiting for vibrations. Then it stopped.

"Do you, do you think we can get across now?"

"No," Akashi answered his team mate. "The spider's waiting to see if whatever was moving will start again, now that _it_ isn't moving; we wait." A minute later the spider ambled to the edge of the web, crawling into a hole there. The three kids breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! That was close…"

"No kidding!"

"Well, now that _that's _taken care of, I'll be on my way…"

"Hold it! If you start going again without telling us how to get across without getting stuck, you might have the same problem you did this time!" Shika glared at him before turning her head in disgust.

"Hmph; I could have figured out a way without you!" She turned her face to look at him, distaste still evident. "Still you did help out…this bridge is called the _tightrope spider bridge_, so to get across, use those strands on the side, and that's what will get you across without getting stuck. Just don't move around on it too much or we'll have to deal with that spider again."

Soon, all three were across, much closer together now, Shika only a little ways ahead.

"So, a _mostly_ normal obstacle course, a huge spider bridge, what next!" Cho shook her head. "We really did luck out with our sensei, didn't we." Shika snorted.

"Heh; maybe. Mom said he's always been nuts like this, but also that his team were very close with the rookie 9; all twelve are Jounin now. He's insane, but for whoever passes, he'll make them strong, I'm sure of it." She gripped her hands together tightly. She needed to be strong, and if this man could do, then so be it, even if he was crazy.

"Hey, Shika, what's the next line say?" She just tossed him the scroll, which he almost dropped, she noted, and let him read it for himself.

"_Offer a wild chrysanthemum_? Eh?" She laughed.

"Yeah, like I said; nonsense. I'd guess none of this stuff is gonna make sense until we're in the situation." Akashi nodded, putting away the scroll in his bag.

"Yeah, probably, seeing as how without the spider you'd have no idea what the first line meant." Cho nodded in agreement, choosing not to speak as she was getting short on breathe. So, they kept running, having used up an hour and a half now. There were only two and a half hours left to finish.

Soon they stood at the entrance to a giant building. The sign was worn off and the tree cautiously entered.

"Well, this place is big," said Shika, eyes darting around the room, taking it all in. There was a closed door on the other end, several pillars with small holes in them, some chains handing from the sealing, a small sign a few feet away from the door, and of course a huge depression in the floor with a hole in it.

"Akashi, make yourself useful and read that sign." He glared at her before he went to read it.

"Huh," he said. "It's says, depress button…"

"What? What button?" Akashi lifted up the paper the sign was on, seeing if perhaps the button was beneath, but no luck.

"Okay, so to open the door, we need to press a button, and there's going to be something about a chrysanthemum, which we don't have…you think there's one in that whole?" Shika shrugged. Good place to start. The three dropped into the hole, and almost immediately, from the holes in the pillars, a pink gas began to shoot out.

"What is this!" They all looked about wildly as the cloud of gas began to descend on them.

"It's only falling! It doesn't go up! It must be a heavy gas! Get up, get up!" Chi yelled. Shika jumped and grabbed a chain, as did Akashi, but Cho just stood there, despite her insistance.

"What are you waiting for!" Akashi yelled down.

"I, I can't jump that high!" Akashi looked down at her in shock. She couldn't? It wasn't that hard. She'd even been the one to say it. He looked at the cloud beginning to envelope her and jumped down.

_Huh, a moron like him, I wouldn't have thought he could do that…most academy kids can't… maybe he's better than I thought. Won't matter if he get's caught in that gas, though._

At that moment, Akashi was bracing himself on the floor, holding out a his hands and motioning for Cho to run and use his hands as a spring board. She nodded, ran, and jumped, barely making it, gasping for air. Akashi felt himself getting weaker as he tried to hold his breath, but he knew he couldn't jump back up again, not with the small wiff he'd taken right when Cho had jumped. He looked around. There was still that hole…well, to be there, it had to be important. Maybe it would be safe in there…

Meanwhile, as Cho caught her breath, both of the girls were looking down, studying the floor. It was such an odd design…

"Akaskhi! Run for the…oh…" Cho realized he was already doing it, so yelled again as Shika smirked oddly. What was up with that?

"Akashi! When you get in the hole, see if there's something to help us!" Now Shika yelled down.

"Remember, that sign said to depress the button! Look for the button!" Akashi ran with all his might to get to the whole, barely hearing his team mate, but he get it just enough to wave his hand. He stumbled right before he got to the whole, losing his breathe, and insticivly taking another…on no…he tried to lift his head, but the whole world was rolling in…but he had to make it! He had to…

Outside the hole the gas was rising higher as it filled the rest of the room. Cho was looking fearfully at the hole.

"Do you, do you think he's…" Shika rolled her eyes. With our luck, that stumble of his knocked him out, and now we'll have to jump down and find it." She stared around them in anger. "I don't care how, but I'm getting out of here, and I'm getting my dad's things back; this isn't going to stop me!" With that she jumped down, bracing to take the impact without loosing her breath, but just as she landed, the pit depressed once again, and the gas was sucked out through holes at the edge of the raised area, also opening the door.

"Wow, he did it," Shika said. Cho landed next to her, wincing.

"Hey! Akashi kun is so cool! I knew he could do it!" Shika gave her a look that said, _seriously? Are you kidding me?_ However, she didn't say anything, instead standing up and walking over to the whole, looking down.

"So, you alive down there?" Akashi coughed.

"Ha, barely, but I got it!"

"Yeah, you did, now hurry up! I might need more cannon fodder later." He laughed.

"Right, cannon fodder." Cho, meanwhile, ran up and jumped down in the hole, shooting glances at Shika and helping Akashi up. She _really_ didn't like how there were talking… Still, they made it out, though Shika complained about Akashi slowing them down and being stupid for inhaling some of the gas, but soon enough, he was able to walk, and they literally saw light at the end of the tunnel.

"So, what's the next part," Cho asked, and as Akashi reached for the scroll, Shika answered.

"_Be extremely nimble, show determination_," she said without missing a beat.

"Eh? How'd you know that." She smirked at them over her shoulder.

"I memorized it," she said. "I mean, it _was_ sitting there at the bridge for _forever_ befoe you guys showed up, trying to figure out the clue, but it was, as I said earlier, useless, since the clue doesn't make sense until you get there. You had to see the spider and notice it was attracted to vibrations, and you had to see that the pit was shaped like a flower before being wild crazy enough to even think about going back into the center of that fog. So, this next part will probably be the same." Akashi and Cho nodded, Akashi now walking under his own power, but just then they all perked their ears up, noticing the sound of rushing water. Sure enough, right when they got out of the cave, they could see that river beneath them.

"Grrr, it still doesn't make sense… the challenge must be further ahead on this path."

"Unless the path _is_ the challenge. Nimble could be referring to a rock slide or something," Cho said to her female team mate. Shika looked up at the sky.

"Well, we'd better be nimble _and_ be quick; we have just under two hours left, and no idea how long the rest of this will take; it looks like we're just under half way, based on the clues we have left and what we've already gotten done." They nodded and began to jog down the path, keeping an eye out above them. After just a minute or two, though, they came to a raft.

"Well, there' nothing else here, so I guess we take the raft…even if we won't be able to steer it." Cho's face dropped.

"Great; somehow, I don't think I'm gonna like this one…" Akashi managed to chuckle.

"hey, I don't think any us have liked _any_ of this so far; but if we hurry up we can still make it! And dad won't kill me," he muttered. Cho giggled, and they stepped onto the raft, sitting down to make it easier to balance. They sat in silence for a moment as Shika watched the river before Akashi spoke up.

"Hey Shika, why are you so different today anyways? Usually you're a total goof ball." She didn't even turn around.

"Well, let's just say people like to laugh, so I make them laugh. I don't care for it so much myself; now I get to be a real shinobi, and I'll finally be able to… make my dream come true. Now I have a _reason_ to be serious…"

"Huh; okay, whatever," Akashi said, laying down. Cho hugged her knees. Oh, this was not going well… then she looked up.

"Hey, is the river moving faster?" Shika nodded. "Yeah, it's been slowly getting fast. I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner. There's probably a water fall ahead." She shook her head. "I think I know what the nimble part is about, but what about showing determination? Nimble will be avoiding the water fall, but why be determined about it? Akashi chuckled.

"Heheheh. Maybe we're supposed to jump over it, eh? Ahhh…this sucks." The girls nodded.

"Yup; but we'd better figure it out fast, cause there's the water fall!" Akashi and Cho both jumped up while Shika just slowly stood.

"Crap! There's a huge rock in the middle, and with the pull of the current being equal we're going to smash right into that rock!" Akashi turned to Shika. "Well, you're smart! What do we do?" Shika's eyes were moving everywhere, taking it all in. She noticed that rock had a miniature kage monument, though it only had the first four kage on it, but there didn't seem to be anything special about it… what was the answer? Then she turned as Cho gasped.

"What! What is it?" Cho pointed at the rainbow. "So?"

"Rainbow's only form from the spray rising above a falls…so why is it only on one side?" Shika's eyes narrowed.

"Alright Akashi, since it was your idea, you jump first! To the right!" Akashi's look of incredulity was priceless.

"Nani! I wasn't being serious!" Shika glared.

"Well, according to what Cho said, we should be safe, and if we don't show _determination_ here, we'll be smashed into the rocks in about three seconds! Now go!" Akashi didn't hesitate, jumping to the right, followed by Cho, then Shika, right before their raft was smashed into the side of the rock…and the three of them landed in a head, Akashi on bottom.

"Ooooww…." Akashi moaned.

"I'm gonna kill sensei when we find him," Cho muttered.

"Well, I don't think it'll be too long. I see a building up ahead and no path behind it; looks like we'll finish in there, and we have about an hour and a half or so, so let's move it!

.

.

.

And move it they did, running hard to get to the building, excited at the prospect over actually finishing and managing to do it with time to spare! They didn't even pause as they ran into the building, Cho breathlessly asking, "So, what, what's the next c,clue?"

"_One is one, three is three_, and _all or none_," she replied. "That's all that's left."

"N, nani?" Shika shrugged.

"We'll see," she said. "We'll see." And then there were in the building, but it had a rather strange build. Off to the sides it was as if it were a huge library, but in the middle there were three hills of dirt (fresh dirt, it seemed, for the ones to the sides; the dirt in the middle didn't look as fresh) with a huge boulder at the base of each, and finally a sign sitting before them. Cho leaned over, catching her breathe an Akashi went up to read it.

"It says, 'to greet me at the top, push your boulder till it stops'…crap…" Shika, as he read, was looking up the hill. Right as he finished, she ran past him. "Huh.. Shika, what are you doing?" She didn't answer, but stopped at the crest of the hill and ran back down. When she made it back, Akashi questioned her. "What was that all about." She looked at each of the boulders and walked up to the smallest one before answering.

"Once you get a boulder to the top, there's a bit of a hill, then it falls and lands in a pit with a huge button. Obviously we each need to get this done in order to open our own door and get through to sensei, so get out of my way." With that she spit on her hands and began pushing the boulder. Akashi started before sharing a glance with Cho and they each picked their own boulder. Shika seemed to be doing well as first, but then she slowed down as it got steeper, and she couldn't find enough purchase in the ground to keep pushing, only hold it in place.

_No, I can't end like this… I have get my dad's things back!_ She screamed in effort and managed to push the boulder again. Akashi, a few feet lower on the slope than her, stared at her ferocity, and grimaced as she was once again stuck on the slope. He was also stuck, and was trying to figure out the puzzle. Cho was even farther down the slope them then, huffing and wheezing, trying to come up with a better way to move the rock.

_One is one, and three is three…all or none…well, each of us has a boulder, and there _is_ three of them; one for each of us, so why bother to say that? And all or none is part of the next clue but still seems to fit with this one…hmmm…wait…what if…_ He groaned as he slowly walked his boulder back down the slope. Cho stared at him in shock, and Shika gave off another scream as she tried to push at her boulder further, but failed. Cho followed Akashi's example and walked her boulder down…or tried to, anyways. She slipped and her boulder rolled on it's own, stopping several yards closer to the door than it had started.

"Akashi-kun, what's going on? Did you figure out how to move them better or something? Or are the boulders a distraction?" he shook his head.

"No, and yes. The boulders _are_ the point, but no quite the way we thought." He jerked his head towards Shika, and the jogged up to her. She was straining to even hold it in place now.

"Shika, I've figured out the clue," he said, She just glared at him. "What it means is not that each boulder is for each of us, but that each boulder is for the _three_ of us. One person for each boulder can only do so much, but _three_ people for three boulders, working together, well, that's what does it."

"Why-three," she wheezed.

"We have to get all three up there in time," he said. "It's a trick to make us think that we only need to do one each, but really, _none_ of the three doors will open until all three boulders make it to their spots. _All or none_," he reminded her. "But in order to help you, you need to make room for us and not spread your arms out so much, then we'll push the boulder together."

"Don't-need-help," she said. He looked at her, head titled to the side, one eyebrow raised.

"Really?" She glared and kept trying to push her boulder. The clock continued to tick as the two battled wills and Cho nervously waited at the side.

"Shika, we're losing time. It's not so much that you need your help, but all need each others. Cho and I can't move our boulders without you, not all the way. We'll need you, too, to get them." Shika glared and grit her teeth, but braced herself, and screamed, moving all the weight of the boulder to her back as she took her arms off; for that split second it was pain, but then it lessened considerably as her teammates took a third of the weight, about, on each side of her.

"Now, let's get it done!" She nodded and, working together, they began to make progress, getting the boulder to slowly move up the hill. Inch by inch they pushed it up. They slid once or twice, but after just a few minutes they had pushed it up and over, and they fell over themselves as they watched the boulder fall into place. Sure enough, just as Akashi had predicted, the one boulder by itself did not open a door, thought they _could_ hear the clicking sounds of the door's mechanisms moving. Akashi and Cho looked at each other and grinned while Shika just laid there catching her breath.

She was angry with herself. She should be able to do this alone! She shouldn't need anyone to help her, least of all the second guesser Akashi and the physically weak Cho. Well, she'd show them… She stood.

"Hey, Shika, you spent a lot of effort on that by yourself. We can take a break if you want." She looked over her shoulder as him as she walked down the hill to the other two boulders.

"Rest if you want; I'm fine, and we're running out of time." Akashi winced and stood, holding out his hand to help Cho up. He was looking down the hill as he did so, however, so he missed her blush. Soon they were once again pushing a boulder up, though this one seemed easier to move, likely because they didn't have to start it from a resting position part way up the hill like they had had to with Shika's. Another boulder went over, and then they repeated with the third, never taking a break. Despite her physical weakness, even Cho kept pushing through, never moaning and never giving in. Fate did seem to have a sense of humor for them this day, however.

As they once again pushed a boulder over the summit, the last one, they all fell over again from their efforts. Cho, however, fell further forward and was watching as the boulder hit and the door opened. Shika and Akashi missed this, however. Like two unfortunate boys many years before, they found themselves in an akward position. Not only had they fallen over, but one of them had tripped, grabbing the other to try and stop the fall. They were so shocked by the result that neither of them would ever be sure who did what, just that all of a sudden, their faces were mashed together.

"YES! We did it! The door's opened guys! Isn't that…GAAH!" Cho screamed in frustration and surprise as she turned around to see her teammates kissing, not caring that they immediately got up the moment she saw them (which happened to break them out of their state of shock), or that they both made barf noises and were wiping their mouths out like crazy. Cho just stared at Shika in anger, letting off an amazing killer intent. I_ was supposed to be Akashi kun's first kiss! Oh I'm gonna make Shika pay for that one! _

"So, um, I guess we'd better get going," Akashi said, pointedly not looking at Shika as she did the same for him, arms folded and scowl on her face. They all began walking down the hill, Cho thinking of all the horrible things she would do to her teammate for stealing Akashi's attention from her, the latter two trying to forget what had just happened.

In this state they entered the doorway and walked up the stairs to find an open space at the top of the building.

"Eh? What are we supposed to do now? There's nowhere else to go." Akashi's teammates shrugged, but then Cho pointed out the stand behind them on the other side of the stairs.

"Well, maybe he wants us to read that scroll there." The other two turned to look at it before they all walked around to the other side.

"Alright, let's see what it says…what?" Akashi was very confused, as were his teammates, as he opened up the scroll to see a seal. But what kind of freaky seal with this? Of course, in a poof of smoke, his question was answered. Before them now stood their sensei, Lee, smiling widely at them.

"Well done," he said to them. "You have made it here with forty-seven minutes to spare! This is good as you will need them to complete the final portion of your test."

"NANI!" This came from just Akashi and Cho while Shika got her trench knives ready. She still wanted to hurt him for taking her father's things, and she was ready.

"Yes; you see, this whole course has been a test, which I shall explain upon the completion of your test, but _I_ am the final part of your test." _Crap_ was not an uncommon thought right then. "In order to retrieve your precious things, what you will have to do is tag the symbol on my back. Unlike the boulders, in this case it does not matter who touches it, but you must decide now what level of effort will be put into this task." Shika whipped her arms to the side to bring out her father's trench knives and then brought them back to be held in front of her, arms crossed.

"All the effort that can be mustered will be used," she said, and Lee smiled while the others gulped, sensing somehow that they weren't going to like what was about to happen.

"Very well then! This is a most youthful decision. Allow me to prepare and we shall commence in five minutes but not a second sooner." With that he sat down and took off his leg warmers. Shika, too, sat down, albeit roughly. She had been wanting to pounce on him right then and there, but she was maintaining a fine balance in her mind over the need to get her father's things back, and also the need to graduate so she could accomplish her goal. She was impressed with the weights that her sensei wore, but besides ridding his legs of protection, it's not like they would actually do anything for him. Akashi and Cho were hoping the same thing, but then Lee walked to the edge of the building and tossed his weights to the ground.

"I do not want them to get in the way as we battle," he said simply, sitting down to mediate. A couple seconds later the weights hit the ground and even Shika rushed to the side in surprise at the cloud that was made from the impact.

"Wow…do you really think that was…"

"His weights…yeah, unfortunately." Akashi pointed. "See in the center of that crater? You can barely see the gleam from the mettle, but that's his weights alright!" Cho groaned, and Shika grimaced. It was getting harder than expected. Cho, however, chose not to just sit there.

"Lee sensei!" Lee opened an eye, showering her she had his attention. "I, I don't think it's really fair. I mean, we've spent the last four hours doing all this crazy stuff and we're super tired and you're completely fresh! This doesn't make any sense!" Lee smiled, relaxing out of his meditative stance and opening both eyes.

"The point here is that you must learn to be stronger today than you were yesterday. Perhaps it might seem unfair, but one day you will need to apply this as a shinobi." He lightly thumped his chest with a fist. "There was once a day, when I was working with Hokage sama, that _I_ was required to be strong not just than I was yesterday, but stronger than I had been just a few minutes before. It was by doing this that I won the battle I was in, as well as my sensei and my two teammates. I have faith in you, Cho, Akashi and Shika, that you will be able to be stronger now than you were a few minutes ago.

"Also, through reasons of my own, I actually had to change that part, putting in two more boulders, after this test began. I just finished piling it up a few minutes before you came in, so I am not in my top condition right now either." He stood. "It has been five minutes; let us," and he dropped into a stance, one arm forward, one resting on the small of his back as he faced his students, "begin."

Shika jumped up and charged him recklessly. To her shock he was suddenly no longer in sight, then she felt his foot on her back and she went flying into a pillar. Akashi came next, throwing a few kunai as Cho backed up, surprised by all the sudden movement, having forgotten to pay attention to the time as it was passing. Akashi's stars were hit away with a bare hand as Lee charged him, disappearing once again, and Akashi went flying, not even sure if it was a foot or a hand that had hit him.

Cho was now by herself as she looked back and forth between her stunned teammates, though Shika was starting to shake it off. _Come on, you can do this_, she thought to herself, concentrating. She breathed, then ran at her sensei. She was met with a straight on kick, but it passed through her and her clone disappeared as she jumped at her sensei from behind…only to be slapped down and to the side, though not as hard, it seemed, as her teammates. _Ow! Still, I got close…_ Shika was up once again, but now she was slowly calculating, thinking about how to approach this.

_Frontal attack, that was stupid. We already knew he was fast, and with those weights gone he'll be a lot faster. Lee sensei specialized in taijutsu, but I doubt that any of us have advanced enough ninjutsu, or even genjutsu to take him on…though from what I saw it looked like Cho using a clone almost worked. Maybe he's too straightforward for his own good!_ And so, Shika attacked once again, trying to be more cunning than last time, but time and again, each of the three were knocked away.

With less than ten minutes left, and many bruises all over their bodies, the three all sat recovering by the edge of the stairs.

"Can you believe it's not even noon yet, and we're already more banged up than any whole week back at the academy," Akashi said, not excepting anything but a chuckle.

"Phah! This sensei's a jerk; he wants us to already be at Jounin level, but the only way one of us three _might_ be able to beat him is by tricking him…" Shika continued but Akashi's mind caught on something… or some_things_ rather. _One is one, three is three_…_those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash_…

"Wait a second!"

"Huh?"

"What?" Akashi looked over at Lee as he stood waiting for their attack. "Lee sensei, you used to hang I with the rookie nine, right?" Lee smiled.

"Ah yes, we are still very good friends."

"And you knew my dad, right?" There was a twinkle in his eye.

"Oh yes; Kakashi sensei is very dear to all of us; he has taught us many things over the years that have made us into splendid shinobi."

_"Right_," Akashi muttered, "so that's how it is." He looked at the sky as he teammates asked him what was going on.

"We already forgot," he said.

"Well, hurry up and tell us!" Before he could, Cho spoke up.

"Wait…what Shika said a minute ago… the Tiger Scroll…_one is one, three is three_! We need to start working together to beat him instead of the individual attacks we've been doing." Shika rolled her eyes in frustration. Who she _always_ have to use other's to get what she wanted? But Akashi nodded.

"Exactly; my dad always said, talking about Shinobi, that those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are _worse_ than trash." He looked over at Rock Lee. "We've all been so focused on getting back _our_ possession, that we keep forgetting that we're a team! That's what we have to do is work as a team, or we'll never stand a chance against Lee sensei." Lee smiled broadly as he heard them speak, but did nothing.

"Alright then, what's the plan _genius_?" Akashi thought for a second, but again it was Cho who spoke up first, but all in whispers, and Shika kept looking at the sun, gauging how much time they had. It was down to less than five minutes, she noted, as they finalized their plan. _This had better work or these two are dead!_

"Alright, let's go!" Akashi jumped up and ran around Lee to the right, while Shika did the same to the left.

"So, what will you do, genin of the leaf?" Each wore a determined expression as they raised their hands and made the seal.

"Clone jutsu!" Lee moved his head as he saw that he was now surrounded by copies of his students numbering up to 17. Apparently they each had a different level of close they could make. They were all running around, too, not straight charging him. _Very good_, he thought_, now let's see… ah!_ And Lee dodged a barrage of kunai and stairs that shot out from the moving images. He jumped to avoid them and it was then that they all charged him.

"Leaf hurricane leg spin!" Lee spun around to keep himself from getting hit, then shot out an arm to knock away Akashi as he jumped from above to try and touch his back, then at Cho who came from beneath at the same moment. They were both thrown to the side as he landed, then realized that they had both been holding ninja wire and were now holding him tightly as Shika jumped for one last attempt. Lee smiled and used his strength to drop to floor, despite his students attempts to try and force him up, and Shika went sailing over his head.

"You're time is up," he announced as Shika ran into a pillar once again. Lee stood up as fear began to build on his other students faces and Shika began to quickly stand, ready to charge him again to save her things, but Lee gave them a thumbs up and proclaimed, "You pass!"

"NANI!"

"Yes, you pass! You have completed all the objectives that I sought to test you on! You are now official genin of Konohagakure!" Shika eyed him wearily, Akashi with disbelief, but Cho with confusion, and she was once again the one to pose the question.

"But sensei, what are you talking about? We never managed to touch the symbol on your back?" Lee smiled.

"As I said before, I would tell you the purpose of the testing." He sat down once again, now free of the ninja wire. "As you noticed, most of my tests made you work very hard to accomplish your goals. This is because, even though someone may be a genius or very talented, you must never let that get to you in battle. Assuming your enemy is better than you is deadly."

"But sensei, how are we supposed to beat someone like that?" Lee looked up.

"As I said, it is through hard work. Naruto, Hokage-sama, is like me. He was not a genius, nor was he talented, and yet, through his hard work he went from being dead last to the most powerful shinobi in the world. He never let someone walk over him, and time and again proved that hard work can beat genius and talent.

"Also, the course you did today is somewhat different than any other run through this course has even been! You see, I changed it so fit my last statement, but also, as I observed you three from the beginning, I could tell that I had misplaced my beliefs that you would realize one important aspect of being a shinobi."

"Heh; and what is that, sensei?" Lee faced Shika, eye's connecting to each other as he stared into her soul…at least, that's what it felt like.

"Team work; as Akashi said, it is team work. Most of us would not be hear, not even Naruto-sama, if it were not for team work making it so. It is the most important lesson Kakashi sensei ever taught us. It was painfully obvious that you three lacked it, so I changed the end of the course to make you learn the importance of it. That is why there were three boulders instead of one, and why I even added in sparring session with myself. Above all, trust in team work, and you will make it through." And saying this, Lee stood.

"Team 6! You have the day off! Your only orders are to report to Sakura-chan at the hospital to heal your bruises for tomorrow when we will begin training in full! Yosh! Let youth energize you, and tomorrow we begin our journey together!" And he jumped off to collect his weights, his three students staring off after him.

"Ummm… I feel like he forgot something…" Shika gritted her teeth at Cho's comment.

"Oouurrr stuuufff….." she growled, but almost as if to prove them wrong a tile shifted in the ceiling and three scrolls fell down, each with one of their names on it.

"Or not," Akashi said, relieved that his father would be getting his book back… he hoped. Not that he had long to wait. Shika immediately grabbed hers and opened it. Sure enough, it was a storage scroll, and her father's belongings fell out. She fell to her knees and held them tightly.

"Thank goodness," she whispered, a few tears falling from her face before she wiped them away and stood, sticking them into her pack. "Alright, let's get moving. The sooner this Sakura lady heals us up the better. I don't know about you, but I've got plenty of other things I want to do today." And with that she started walking down the stairs while her teammates shrugged and followed, smiling with joy. Team six had graduated!

**So, there it is! Yeesh. That Shika girl is pretty angry, huh? Man that girl has issues! lol, but hey, i warned you she did! Don't worry, though, i WAS inspired on the last bit for her, so i already have the part written where she resolves her issues. Akashi's issues will display more in the next chapter.**

**But i've delayed long enough! Time to give credit where it is due!**

**To imouto12345 goes credit for both the use of the obstacle course and the risk of loss of their precious possessions (though, as they said to me, I WAS the one who picked the possessions)**

**To Shinigami Miroku goes credit for the use of a spar between Lee and his students, as well as a reminder of being stronger one day than they were the previous day.**

**To raw666 goes credit for the three boulders and Lee thinking that teamwork is obvious.**

**Also notwworth is zentary, a loyal reader of several of my fics, for which i am very grateful, for the insistance that it be something physical and and involving teamwork.**

**I thank you all for sharing your ideas. Without you four, i don't think this chapter would have been HALF as easy to write.**

**Anyways, i want to talk to my girlfriend, who lives on the other side of the country, so please review for me, and have a good one!**


	11. Don't Panic

**Notice:**

**okay, first off, DO NOT PANIC! the story isn't over, just on hiatus again because i hate not delivering on a more consistent basis. So, i'm going to be focusing on just one story for now. Even though this is the story with the most stuff written (i already have two of the three last chapters written, and bits and pieces of the other parts here and there), it will still take less time to finish Naruto of the Sand because that story is going to be shorter! (and it's alot more popular...though i'm grateful to all the fans i have on this story! That's why i'm going to make sure i come back and finish it in the near future!)**

**So, sorry for taking so long to update it only to tell you about a hiatus again...however, like last time, i'll be doing a double post to make up for it!...a little...yeah, hiatus's suck...**

**Thank-you for your support and reviews. Here's to hoping i'll be back soon!**

**CaptainFlye**

**ps-happy thanksgiving and merry christmas...hopefully i'll be able to update before new-years, though...**


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